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Why are poor people seen as culpable for the things they suffer? Why are poor people seen as culpable for the things they suffer?
(5 months later)
Hawa is a new refugee housed in temporary accommodation by a London borough, while she, her toddler son and baby daughter endure the ever-lengthening wait for a council property. Water continually runs down the freezing cold walls of the flat and black mould blooms on the walls and in cupboards, destroying possessions she cannot afford to replace.Hawa is a new refugee housed in temporary accommodation by a London borough, while she, her toddler son and baby daughter endure the ever-lengthening wait for a council property. Water continually runs down the freezing cold walls of the flat and black mould blooms on the walls and in cupboards, destroying possessions she cannot afford to replace.
The children have constant coughs and chest infections, and suffer from asthma. There are two bedrooms but the main one is too toxic to inhabit so all three huddle in the second one, only big enough to accommodate a single bed. Her situation is not uncommon – the problem of substandard social housing has been one that successive governments have failed to tackle effectively for decades.The children have constant coughs and chest infections, and suffer from asthma. There are two bedrooms but the main one is too toxic to inhabit so all three huddle in the second one, only big enough to accommodate a single bed. Her situation is not uncommon – the problem of substandard social housing has been one that successive governments have failed to tackle effectively for decades.
However, what is disturbing is the way some councils and landlords are now responding to these problems. Hawa's English is poor and she was robbed of the opportunity to get an education by the circumstances that caused her to flee her home country. She has regularly complained about her living conditions for the past 18 months and says that the repairs carried out by the landlord have failed to make a difference.However, what is disturbing is the way some councils and landlords are now responding to these problems. Hawa's English is poor and she was robbed of the opportunity to get an education by the circumstances that caused her to flee her home country. She has regularly complained about her living conditions for the past 18 months and says that the repairs carried out by the landlord have failed to make a difference.
I have known her for a long time and in desperation she asked me to complain to the council for her, in the hope that someone with an English accent might make more headway. I was taken aback by the council official's response, reporting back on a visit by the landlords to the flat:I have known her for a long time and in desperation she asked me to complain to the council for her, in the hope that someone with an English accent might make more headway. I was taken aback by the council official's response, reporting back on a visit by the landlords to the flat:
"They stated that they witnessed first-hand that the windows were shut and they saw a pan on the hob boiling food and generating steam. As you are aware, this is not conducive to a healthy house and will have a negative impact on the property."
"They stated that they witnessed first-hand that the windows were shut and they saw a pan on the hob boiling food and generating steam. As you are aware, this is not conducive to a healthy house and will have a negative impact on the property."
So the message is: if you're poor, don't presume to cook in your own home and don't even think about keeping your windows closed even if it's below zero outside and you can't afford central heating. According to council advice, steamy baths or showers, along with drying clothes after they've been washed, are also high-risk activities in a damp home.So the message is: if you're poor, don't presume to cook in your own home and don't even think about keeping your windows closed even if it's below zero outside and you can't afford central heating. According to council advice, steamy baths or showers, along with drying clothes after they've been washed, are also high-risk activities in a damp home.
If Hawa stopped cooking, stopped bathing and kept her windows open, however low the temperatures dropped, the damp problem would probably improve but she and her children may expire from starvation or hypothermia in the process – a case of the remedy killing the patient. Those of us who are not poor and can afford better quality housing do not have those kinds of dilemmas before we step into the shower or put a pan of pasta on the stove.If Hawa stopped cooking, stopped bathing and kept her windows open, however low the temperatures dropped, the damp problem would probably improve but she and her children may expire from starvation or hypothermia in the process – a case of the remedy killing the patient. Those of us who are not poor and can afford better quality housing do not have those kinds of dilemmas before we step into the shower or put a pan of pasta on the stove.
The email I received effectively blames this impoverished and vulnerable young mother for causing a problem clearly beyond her control. It is part of an alarming new trend of blaming poor people for the problems they inevitably encounter. The Victorians divided the poor into the deserving and the undeserving. That was bad enough. But this government views poor people as collectively culpable for the things they suffer. Those who succeed in society are applauded, whether or not privileges conferred on them by social class, wealth and genes eased their path.The email I received effectively blames this impoverished and vulnerable young mother for causing a problem clearly beyond her control. It is part of an alarming new trend of blaming poor people for the problems they inevitably encounter. The Victorians divided the poor into the deserving and the undeserving. That was bad enough. But this government views poor people as collectively culpable for the things they suffer. Those who succeed in society are applauded, whether or not privileges conferred on them by social class, wealth and genes eased their path.
Fewer and fewer adjustments are being made to support those who have the misfortune to be born and to grow up without this cluster of advantages. Instead those who are poor, sick, disabled or uneducated because of the tough hand life dealt them are not only consigned to a rubbish dump formed of increasingly sticky quicksand, but are blamed for finding themselves there too.Fewer and fewer adjustments are being made to support those who have the misfortune to be born and to grow up without this cluster of advantages. Instead those who are poor, sick, disabled or uneducated because of the tough hand life dealt them are not only consigned to a rubbish dump formed of increasingly sticky quicksand, but are blamed for finding themselves there too.
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