Why Fight Poverty?. Julia Unwin

      Poverty is also linked to health inequalities that are both costly to society and wasteful of human life (Figure 2.4). People in the most deprived neighbourhoods live – on average – seven years less than those in the richest neighbourhoods. They spend an average of seventeen years longer with a disability.36 This amounts to 1.3 million years of life lost (each child could expect to live two years longer).37

Figure 2.4. Expected age at death at age 65 for men and women. Source: Inequality in Disability-Free Life Expectancy by Area Deprivation: England, 2001–05 and 2006–09, Office for National Statistics (May 2012).

      These health inequalities carry a significant cost – £31–33 billion of lost productivity per year in addition to lost taxes and higher welfare payments of £20–32 billion per year, plus NHS healthcare costs.37

      Poverty is strongly associated with offending and antisocial behaviour. Evidence looking at the United States may not transfer directly to the United Kingdom but does indicate that people growing up in deprived areas have a greater chance of being a victim of crime. There is also a strong association between experiencing crime as a victim and becoming an offender.38 One does not necessarily cause the other, although evidence suggests that poor family functioning and low self-­esteem, fuelled by child poverty, can contribute to ­antisocial behaviour.39

      Poverty has an enduring and scarring effect across the lives of people who experience it. This varies depending on the persistence and depth of poverty. People in poverty say that it wastes their capability and skills, erodes hope and ambition, and makes it hugely difficult to make long-term plans or move on.

      Despite an increase of education courses, the poverty in Barkerend lays waste to ability. A youth and community worker says:

      ‘At the end of it there’s nothing [for the young people] and it all seems pointless to them.’ 46