Poverty is still with us, but there is progress - Kirsty Kennedy

​​End Poverty Edinburgh (EPE) welcomes the third annual report on the progress of ending poverty in our city. Despite there still being a great deal of work yet to be done, we would like to begin by acknowledging areas of progress.

The city council is already an accredited Living Wage employer - now it hopes to enlist others too

First, we see early signs of a change in attitudes regarding user-led services and seeking the advice of those with lived experience of poverty. As we have experienced ourselves, there seems to be a real desire to involve people living on a low income in how the council does its business and we very much welcome this.

We believe that including those with real-life experience is key when attempting to develop new or better services. Having already identified several cracks and gaps, why not involve us in further adapting whatever the service or intervention may be? We are hopeful this change in attitudes will take root.

We would also like to highlight the significance of Edinburgh becoming a Living Wage City.

Especially in the current cost-of-living crisis, more and more people are pulled into the cycle of poverty, whether they are in work or not; the importance of paying a real living wage is more crucial than ever before.

Although we understand there is more work to be done, we believe it is important to highlight and celebrate this area of progress as it is perhaps a key step in the right direction.

Despite there being progress to celebrate, there are many areas we have yet to make an impact on. For one, Edinburgh desperately needs an increase in quality social housing, accessible social housing, and genuinely affordable housing.

Though we acknowledge a nationwide problem, we believe Edinburgh’s housing situation has an identity of its own. This is a crucial barrier to tackle in the capital city and more support is needed from the Scottish Government to do so.

Every barrier people on low-incomes face, be that housing and rent issues, food insecurity, bills, debt, access to advice services, translation services, unforeseen costs, fuel poverty, childcare, affordable travel – every barrier impacts mental health, adding to the immense pressure people experience. Those caught in the tight grasp of poverty are not living, they are surviving, if lucky and that is truly unacceptable in our society.

So, as we welcome and celebrate the areas of progress towards eradicating poverty from our city, we call to capitalise on this momentum and step up our efforts for the years ahead.