Poverty, social work and social services
Mike O’Brien
As history shows, it never is a good time to be poor, but right now the climate is more hostile and dangerous than it has been for many years. There is quite a long list – attacks on beneficiaries, reductions in the calculation of benefits through changing the basis of adjustment, weakening of child poverty reduction targets, attacks on public housing, tightening of eligibility rules for assistance, dogmatic assertions about paid work as the route out of poverty despite the evidence to the contrary, funding cuts and contract cuts for the social services, cancelling of equity focus in health especially in relation to tangata whenua – and that is only a beginning of the list. Perhaps equally significantly is the fact that in the government’s quarterly list of targets, reducing poverty, especially child poverty, has never appeared, suggesting that this is not a priority and does not matter.
As I said, that is only the beginning of the list. Reduced access to services, especially social services and health services funded through government contracts, mean that individuals, families and communities who might need support and assistance are less able to get the help they so desperately need. We see that in so many ways – reductions in services by food banks (despite increasing demands), foodbank closures, difficulties faced by those with a disability and their carers in getting the support and assistance they need, social service agencies which face reducing services (or eliminating them) because of funding cuts and contract changes. It is all a rather disquieting list, and that list shows little sign of getting better in the immediate future.
Aside from the obvious and very important self-interest in what is happening in the social service employment market, why is the issue of poverty and its effects so critical for social work practice ? The answer is twofold. First, poverty affects the lives of so many of those we work with and is pervasive in their lives. There is now a vast body of literature establishing and exploring the links between poverty and so many of the personal and social issues facing social work and social service users. Almost daily, there are reports of these links – recently, as an illustration, my newspaper reported on the link between poverty in childhood and depression in adolescents.
Second, social work has a long history of standing with those in poverty to challenge the social and economic forces which create and sustain poverty. While there are some, too many, disturbing examples to the contrary in that history, commitment to ameliorating, reducing and eradicating poverty is a core part of the social work kaupapa. What, then, does that mean for contemporary social work practice ?
There are the obvious requirements to provide the best possible services, non-judgementally and ethically, to all those who request and require assistance. But, that is not enough on its own, and it has never been enough. Working to challenge and change the services, structures and systems which create poverty and keep people in poverty is an integral part of good, holistic practice.
History tells us that change can (and does) happen and social workers have played an important part in bringing about key structural changes which make a critical difference to and for impoverished communities. Change happens because of the commitment and thoughtful actions taken by social workers working in conjunction with service users. We can all provide powerful examples from work with tangata whenua, with people with disabilities, with beneficiary groups, with rangatahi who have been in care, with refugees and ethnic groups which experience discrimination, with the homeless. You can add to that list from your own practice experiences.
Poverty results from choices that are made about how resources are distributed and redistributed. Governments can choose to make policy decisions which reduce poverty and change the systems which create and sustain poverty. Working to and within the code of ethics, social workers can contribute to and create those changes, as they have done for so many years. Working towards a vision and plan that reduces and eliminates poverty is an exciting part of being a professional practitioner. It might be hard work, but it is very productive and constructive work in all the locations where social workers are found. Martin Luther King talked, very powerfully, about his vision.
Now is a good time to practice our vision in Aotearoa.