Managing Poverty

Abstract

Of the problems which social workers encounter on a day to day basis the problem of poverty is perhaps the most depressing. Large numbers of social work clients experience poverty, and social workers are frequently powerless to help. Except for the occasional use of s.1 money,¹ the social worker’s main contribution often consists of assisting clients with budgeting decisions, i.e. trying to stretch inadequate resources to meet pressing needs. Increasingly, however, social workers are being called upon to advise and assist clients over their legal entitlements under the state social security scheme; indeed some social workers specialise in this ‘welfare rights’ work. This work is particularly valuable because lawyers are frequently ignorant of social security law, and with no legal aid available for tribunal hearings there is little incentive for them to learn. We are not advocating that social workers should become the legal representatives of the poor and the dispossessed, but they will frequently be their first advisors, and we hope that the framework provided in this chapter will help them to appreciate the importance of this advice.