The Welsh assembly has appointed the UK's first-ever poverty minister as the country prepares for the worst hardship since the 1930s
Faced with a spectacular and unprecedented cocktail of nasties – stagnant economy, drastic welfare reform, huge public spending cuts, rising living costs – the Welsh government has responded by appointing what it believes is the first of its kind in the UK: a cabinet minister whose primary brief is to tackle poverty.
It is a recognition that hard times are, and will be, a growing political story in the country, and an indication that it is bracing itself not just for a fresh dose of pain and social disruption, but a testing of community resilience not seen since the coalmine and steel factory closures of the 1980s.
Wales is no stranger to deepseated poverty, inequality and disadvantage. Between one in three and one in four residents live below the breadline; one in six working-age residents claim out-of-work benefits (second only to the north-east of England), and just over 9% of these are on incapacity benefits.
What's coming, however, is "a different animal", says Huw Lewis, the minister for communities and tackling poverty. The austerity wave crashing over Wales will bring hardship on a scale comparable to the 1930s. The impact of welfare reforms alone will suck £590m out of low- to middle-income Welsh households in 2014-15, according to a Welsh government study published in February.
Guardian
Faced with a spectacular and unprecedented cocktail of nasties – stagnant economy, drastic welfare reform, huge public spending cuts, rising living costs – the Welsh government has responded by appointing what it believes is the first of its kind in the UK: a cabinet minister whose primary brief is to tackle poverty.
It is a recognition that hard times are, and will be, a growing political story in the country, and an indication that it is bracing itself not just for a fresh dose of pain and social disruption, but a testing of community resilience not seen since the coalmine and steel factory closures of the 1980s.
Wales is no stranger to deepseated poverty, inequality and disadvantage. Between one in three and one in four residents live below the breadline; one in six working-age residents claim out-of-work benefits (second only to the north-east of England), and just over 9% of these are on incapacity benefits.
What's coming, however, is "a different animal", says Huw Lewis, the minister for communities and tackling poverty. The austerity wave crashing over Wales will bring hardship on a scale comparable to the 1930s. The impact of welfare reforms alone will suck £590m out of low- to middle-income Welsh households in 2014-15, according to a Welsh government study published in February.
Guardian
