What gets in the way of us living the lives we want?
Poverty stops people living good lives. One of the biggest barriers that people told us they had to living a good life was work. Work that doesn’t pay enough to get by, that isn’t secure enough to support a family or that takes up all of your waking hours and leaves you with no time or energy for anything else. Costs like trying to heat a poorly insulated, damp flat made people’s financial insecurity even worse. People felt penalised for being poor, like having to pay more for your gas and electricity because you’re on a meter.
Another barrier to prosperity for people is the benefits system. People told us that it doesn’t provide them with enough money to survive on, and makes them feel like they aren’t worthy of support. People on Universal Credit said that they felt constantly anxious that they will be penalised for one reason or another and lose payments. Letters informing people that they have been overpaid hundreds of pounds worth of child tax credits or housing benefits from years (and sometimes decades) ago leave them feeling extremely stressed and fearful of falling into destitution or losing their home.
People don’t always know what their rights are, or that they can access advice and support that could help them challenge the system. People felt that they had no power or recourse in these situations and so often did not fight against mistakes or injustices.
“Living on benefits is like balancing on the head of a pin”
For some people, the constant state of stress and insecurity created by poverty led to poor physical and mental health and sometimes alcohol and drug use.
People told us that a lack of connection with other people (family, friends, neighbours) was a reason why people weren’t living their best lives. Sometimes people felt that they didn’t have the confidence to go to new places and meet new people, or found it hard being in a new, unusual place and culture. For some, living alone was a necessary evil that was an isolating experience.
“It’s hard living around here on your own, there’s no point to anything. It takes two to tango”
Some people said that loneliness led to depression, anxiety and drug and alcohol addiction.
Lots of people said that the unlivable state of their homes was a barrier to living a good life. Damp and mould is affecting people’s mental and physical health, children are developing breathing difficulties and asthma from a young age. Problems like major leaks, wet walls, asbestos and cracks across ceilings cause people to fear for their safety because of the structural condition of their homes. Parents said that it was impossible to provide their children with a positive home environment whilst having to fit a family of 6 in a 2 bedroom flat.
People found it impossible to set down roots because they were moved regularly from place to place.
“I’ve been moved 47 times. I’ve lived everywhere in this borough. I just want to stay in one place so that I can settle”
For some people, practical issues with their housing created big challenges in their lives. Like one person we spoke to who is disabled and unable to fit his mobility scooter through the tiny entrance of his flat. It was difficult for him to get it in the lobby, up the lift and through two sets of doors, so he has never taken it out again and so is limited in what he can do when he goes out.
People felt that many services that were designed to help them made things worse. They are filled with complicated and unnecessary bureaucratic processes, asked for lots of personal information, or just pushed you onto someone else from a different department. People feel that once you were in the ‘system’ you are stuck there, and there is no way out. Some food banks and charities made people feel ashamed, or like they were less than human.
“Tenants are often seen as demanding, difficult to deal with and less worthy of respect / some council staff lack empathy with tenants, failing to put themselves ‘in their shoes’ when dealing with problems. These attitudes appear to be going unchallenged / there appears to be a wider issue with all tenants being stigmatised” (ARK independent report into Croydon Council’s treatment of Regina Road council block)
Lots of people felt that the professionals in their lives (like mental health workers or tenancy officers) were distant and aloof and did not help them in the way they had hoped. For some this was because of the rigidity within which they operated, meaning they were kept at arm’s length or could only access a service for a set number of sessions or months, regardless of the progress they did or didn’t make in that time. For others it was a feeling of being discriminated against for the colour of your skin, your accent, your class, or your disability.
People with extra support needs were negatively impacted by problems that could be resolved easily and without much cost if flexibility and innovation were more readily allowed in mainstream service provision;
“I have a carer but they stopped coming during COVID. Also it was difficult because she didn’t tell me when she would come so I would be waiting all day and it’s difficult to relax if you know someone is coming over to give you a shower but don’t know when”
We listened to lots of people talk about how South Norwood has changed over the last 20 years. People talked to us about the youth centres, social spaces and shops that have closed down, and how central they were as places where people could spend time together and prosper as a community. People felt like their high street had been forgotten about and not taken care of.
“We just need a space where we can just get stuff done for our community, where we don’t have to pay and everyone can take part”
People who were new to the area and those that had lived here for decades experienced a sense of exclusion due to new leisure spaces on the high street that did not ‘seem for them’ or were out of their affordability. This sense of where they could and couldn't go greatly determined what they could and couldn't participate in and essentially instilled an understanding of who they were in their neighbourhood; often being someone that was not being prioritised but excluded. There were many conversations that South Norwood would become like Brixton and Peckham, pricing out existing communities and the working class to make ways for those “that can afford 3 quid lattes and expensive loaves of bread.”
There was a lot of apathy towards local regeneration schemes that promised to create a better place to live for residents. Many felt that these activities did not listen or care for their priorities or the lives they lived in their communities; only those of a more affluent, middle class.
“We just can’t compete with the yuppies but we will always be South Norwood.'“