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Curated by: Richard J Murphy (21 videos)
Poverty is not a fact of nature. It is a political choice. The UK considers a person to be living in poverty when their income is below 60% of median household income, after tax and housing costs. On that measure, at least 14.2 million people, including 4.5 million children, are in poverty today. That is about one in every five people, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's most recent estimate. The proof that poverty is a choice sits in our own recent history. Between 1997 and 2005, a Labour government cut poverty from around 25% of the population to 20%. Then progress flatlined: the global financial crisis of 2008 and the austerity that followed froze it for two decades. Poverty did not become harder to solve. We simply stopped trying. Poverty is not only a lack of money. It damages health, holds back children's development, disables people by restricting their choices, and wastes human potential on a colossal scale, which in turn reduces national income itself. And every tool to end it already exists: more progressive taxation, better regulation, better housing law, more social housing and, of course, a much fairer social security system. What is missing is not the tools. It is the will. This video is a part of my Understanding Economics series. Understanding poverty is therefore essential to understanding economics, inequality and the choices governments make. You can watch the rest of this series here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaSguNBvHIto Take a look at the poll below: https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkxo5j1jixCtbgF5BIIFr0Ig_nQ-hNxfUN0 00:00 What Is Poverty? 01:10 How Poverty Is Measured 02:35 What Does Median Income Mean? 04:05 Relative vs Absolute Poverty 05:14 Why Relative Poverty Matters 06:31 How Poverty Damages People’s Lives 07:35 How Many People Live in Poverty? 08:26 Why Poverty Has Persisted 09:20 Poverty Is an Economic Failure 10:05 Poverty Is a Political Choice TRANSCRIPT A transcript for this video is available at: https://www.taxresearch.org.uk IF YOU WANT TO WRITE TO YOUR MP ABOUT ISSUES IN THIS VIDEO If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/06/20/chatgpt-prompt-for-a-letter-to-your-mp/ HOW TO SUPPORT US Please consider donating: https://ko-fi.com/taxresearch ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY Richard Murphy is Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School. He is director of Tax Research LLP and the author of the Funding the Future blog. His best-known book is ‘The Joy of Tax’. This video was edited by Thomas Murphy. RICHARD MURPHY ON BLUESKY: https://bsky.app/profile/richardjmurphy.bsky.social OR ON MY BLOG: http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/ HIT SUBSCRIBE & GET NOTIFICATIONS Subscribe and get notified of new videos released. INTRODUCTION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdHsRPy3060 PLAYLISTS: The Wealth Series https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobQLeyZYAagFDMjEFTKbhRD Ecenomics https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob54Gs-fOL-8OAQ-IpduwB4 Britain https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobwTT4ATvJjsf8OO6S7wD10 Tax https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoaMni_12J6ULp3yUJisUZoY MMT https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoZ6jvRGSW5YXu8qogE6aClX Money https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYnLk1c7syTvoIo8bKYUs5m Climate Change https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob4_wsYaVivWd2WumpPLYwJ USA https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYYd3dSyU2Oyl3x7bWJOP7H Labour https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoa-KhzG-fnjDSg1WROL1zMw The Trump Administration https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobz41-GLimTho27A3flVWQx #Poverty #Economics #UnderstandingEconomics #UKPoverty #Inequality #CostOfLiving #EconomicInequality