Guardian article regarding injustice, poverty and exlusion
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...rty-inequality
While I did vote Labour, I hope that I am always open minded enough to call out "nonsense!" even when it's in a paper I read. Or, at least, "that doesn't give enough detail and therefore has become misleading."
Quote:
she is on a zero-hours contract. That means there’s no holiday entitlement and no sick pay.
If you’re on a zero hours contract, you can still get sick pay, as long as you meet the eligibility criteria. Zero hours workers are entitled to annual leave, the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage and pay for work-related travel in the same way as regular workers.
However it is true that the employer is not obliged to give you work (unless a minimum number of hours is stated in your contract) and that is the real negative and possibly stops people from pursuing their rights.
Quote:
It was because her eldest son, still living at home in their rented housing association flat, had killed himself. Depression set in, her absence from work got longer and her rent arrears mounted. Her financial difficulties took a turn for the worse with the bedroom tax.
If a property is under-occupied following a recent death in the household, the size limit rules will not apply for twelve months.
Quote:
because Diane doesn’t tick any of the priority housing needs, she’ll be left to fend for herself.
Diane has three children and if these children are classed as dependent on her then Diane would be classed as having priority need. This (priority need) is one of 5 tests that Diane will be assessed on and another test may limit/cut her access to local authority homeless support. She may be placed into grim temporary accommodation, onto a waiting list which lasts far too long and eventually into accommodation that may be unsuitable to her family and have to make that argument.
Quote:
You sit listening to this and you think: is it really possible in this day and age that a neighbour will be tossed like a piece of junk into the street? Aren’t there safety nets?
While Welsh housing law offers far more support than English housing law, though perhaps still not enough, in Wales you only have to be threatened with homelessness to seek homeless support.
Quote:
Amma (same deal, not her real name; the details are, unfortunately, all too true). Amma has been given leave to remain in the country but has “no recourse to public funds”. That means she is not allowed to work, nor is she allowed to claim benefits.
She may be prevented from working for another reason but "no recourse to public funds" won't prevent her from doing so. Also, public funds do not include benefits that are based on National Insurance contributions. She's not allowed to claim homeless support or housing benefit which may make life much trickier (except in exceptional circumstances) but again a misleading sentence.
I'm not saying there isn't massive injustice, poverty and exclusion but misleading articles (even if just because they give a lack of detail) may prevent someone from seeking advice or support which would make the exclusion worse and more widespread.
