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• a global network for exchange of knowledge and practice
• 4,000 practitioners, activists, researchers, institutions, policymakers
• goal: tackling poverty and inequality through community development approaches (focus on strengths; harnessing, connecting, mobilising people’s innate resources)
About IACD
“A smaller gap between rich and poor means a happier, healthier and more successful
population”(The Equality Trust)
• Discussions of poverty and inequality tend to focus on income, not wealth
• Income inequalities are relatively well understood• But assets are far more unevenly distributed
And yet…
UK: 1 household in 10 now has
total assets exceeding £1m The top 10% of households
earns 10 times the annual income of the poorest tenth;
The top 10% own 850 times as much as the bottom tenth (LSE, May 2013)
Asset inequality
Scotland:
• The highest earning 1% own approx a fifth of the UK’s marketable wealth
• ⅔ of households have less than £3000 in non-housing savings and assets
• 10-20% of people in UK have no assets at all
Do we care?
‘Building a Better America’ (2011): estimates of wealth distribution and wealth distribution preferences both differed dramatically from actual wealth distribution, irrespective of political stance
Without savings: Financial insecurity Vulnerability Inability to plan or to
make choices, e.g. about work or education
Why save?
With savings: Ability to weather
storms Opportunity to make
life-changing choices Inclusion in the wider
economy / in society Positive
intergenerational change
“Savings institutions are competing in a ‘race to the bottom’ as rates continue to fall across the market…”
“Austerity is making everyone hold onto their money… but every £1 you spend £1 that goes towards someone
else’s salary... Spending is the only way of fuelling growth…”
“There’s no point!”
Some viewson saving…
• Political and economic structures do not support saving by low-income people: Savings incentives tend to target higher earners Austerity measures = less ability to save Financial institutions not responsive to needs
• Asset inequality has a disproportionate effect on certain groups
• Culture of consumerism and popular myth (the “feckless” poor)
Why is this apolitical issue?
• Evidence shows that poor people can and do save• No direct link: saving and income levels• Behaviours can change• The process of saving can build:
– confidence– skills– social capital– assets: individual, family, community
Can poor people saveanyway?
• Savings matter!• Poor people can and do save• Many (most?) of us want a society where wealth is
more equally distributed• The process and outcome of saving can be an
integral part of building strong communities• BUT policies and economic structures must be
coherent and support saving by low-income people
In conclusion…
Continuethe conversation…
Theme of Day 3: Wealth
www.communityistheanswer.org
International conference9-11 June 2014Glasgow, UK