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Moving the dial on action against poverty in Manchester

01 Sep 2022

Four of our academics have met with Manchester City Council to discuss ways to tackle poverty in Manchester

Action against poverty in Manchester

Policy@Manchester organised a roundtable between University academics and senior economic, public health, policy, education, homelessness and neighbourhood staff at Manchester City Council.

The challenges in Manchester

Poverty is a persistent and ingrained problem in many parts of Manchester. The city was ranked as the sixth most deprived local authority in the country, according to the 2019 Index of Multiple Deprivation. As of March 2020, the End Child Poverty Coalition estimated that around 46,700 children (42%) in Manchester were living in poverty. Beyond this, in-work poverty has increased by 23% since 2017. The backdrop of the cost of living crisis further compounds the challenges face in Manchester.

Manchester City Council and Policy@Manchester organised the Tackling Poverty in Manchester roundtable held on Wednesday, 27 July 2022.

Our academics share their expertise 

Alongside 13 representatives from Manchester City Council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, four academics specialising in the areas of inequality and deprivation met to share their expertise on the challenges facing Manchester.

  • Professor Arpana Verma, Clinical Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology, chaired the event. Dr Cordelle Ofori, Assistant Director of Public Health at Manchester City Council, spoke of the health disparities that exist along lines of socioeconomic status, minoritisation, and race and emphasised how poverty intersects closely with other social issues.
  • Dr Arkadiusz Wisniowski, Senior Lecturer in Social Statistics, emphasised some of the data around poverty and the necessity of addressing the needs of the 1.4 million people in the UK that have no recourse to public funds.
  • Dr Carl Emery, Lecturer in Education and Social Responsibility Fellow, shared some of the work he has done through the Local Matters research programme.
  • Professor Anthony Rafferty, Director of the Work and Equalities Institute, emphasised that many of the immediate challenges are national and international in nature, but that in the short term transport costs and directing unclaimed benefits to those in need could help.

After a successful introductory roundtable, conversations between our academics and Manchester City Council are ongoing to alleviate poverty in the city, redress health inequalities and access to services, and in ensuring effective measurement leads to robust policies for improving people’s lives.

Find out more

  • Policy@Manchester aims to impact lives globally, nationally and locally through influencing and challenging policymakers with robust research-informed evidence and ideas. As part of this work, the GM Policy Hub seeks to build relationships between researchers and regional stakeholders to resolve societal challenges and optimise collaborative opportunities across the region.