Tackling Poverty Together Strategy 2026-2036
Defining poverty and what it means in Gateshead
Defining poverty is essential to help us identify and understand our communities' challenges, our residents' experiences, and ensuring who and how people are impacted by poverty. This shared understanding enables us to develop actions and direct resources and support to those who need it most, where it will have the most impact.
Our definition: Poverty is fundamentally about a lack of material resources to meet basic needs and fully participate in society, primarily driven by inadequate income and increasing household costs.
Central to the development of this strategy has been ensuring that the voices of residents with living and lived experience of poverty have informed its content, focus and direction. Gateshead Council's Lived Experience team engaged directly with nearly 200 people, and Children North East conducted a further 86 conversations involving children, young people, adults and older people in schools, Family Hubs, community venues and libraries.
When Gateshead people explain "what poverty is," they emphasise:
- lack of agency and ability to plan
- being shut out from opportunities, social mobility, or decision-making
- isolation and disconnection from society
- feeling judged or invisible
- being unable to participate fully in life, even when working
"Poverty is a lack of resource that results in significant additional pressures where individuals and families feel locked outside of a life above the poverty line."
"Loss of pride, feeling guilty, struggling to see which fork in the road is the correct one to take."
"Poverty is not just a financial thing; it has lifelong implications which affect not only financial opportunities, but also directly impact physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing."
They shared the real-life impact of poverty and financial stress, highlighting how low income restricts choices and opportunities. Many reported struggling to afford basic living costs, with some resorting to rationing food or avoiding heating to reduce expenses. They emphasised the desire to thrive with dignity, the importance of local support and community connections, and a clear understanding of how they want local services and support to work better for them.
Dimensions of poverty
This strategy builds upon the work of ATD Fourth World's report 'Understanding Poverty in the UK in All Its Forms', which engaged with groups of people across the UK with living and lived experience to better understand how poverty is experienced by people. The report highlighted six dimensions of poverty:
- disempowering systems, structures and policies
- financial insecurity, exclusion and debt
- damaged health and wellbeing
- stigma, blame and judgement
- lack of control over choices
- unrecognised struggles, skills and contributions
We know from the conversations we've had across Gateshead this is how poverty feels to people experiencing it which goes far beyond not having enough money to make ends meet. The dimensions of poverty and the following nine local key insights have shaped our priorities, our cross-cutting commitments, and the design of our action plan. They will also be a guiding influence as we monitor and evaluate the impact of this work. Together, they paint a detailed picture of how poverty is experienced - and what must change.
Poverty is structural and systemic: Immigration status, language barriers, digital exclusion and systemic instability prevent access to essential support. People feel trapped in systems that are unresponsive.
Emotional and psychological weight: Chronic stress, shame, guilt and hopelessness. Poverty feels permanent - a cycle that people describe as impossible to climb out of.
Daily hardship and unmet basic needs: Constant trade-offs: skipping meals so children can eat. Families working full-time are still struggling - highlighting the scale of in-work poverty.
Barriers to accessing services: Digital exclusion, unreliable and costly transport, childcare costs and geographical barriers mean many people simply cannot navigate the systems designed to help them.
Reliance on informal networks: People often survive because of each other — family, neighbours, community hubs and faith centres — not formal support. These groups report insecure funding that limits what they can do.
Experiences of discrimination, stigma, and social tensions: People report stigma, racism, and blame as part of their experience of poverty.
Communities feel unsafe, disconnected, and let down: People describe their housing and local environment as contributing to stress and a lack of belonging.
A single crisis can start a downward spiral: A fragile safety net means minor incidents can have significant impacts. Accessing the right support quickly is key.
People want dignified, human and local support: Compassionate services, delivered in local places by organisations they know and trust.
Poverty is everywhere, and looks different to everyone
We know that certain neighbourhoods and areas across Gateshead are more acutely affected by poverty. Some of these areas also lack the community level support, where it is most needed. Those living in rural areas often struggle with transport costs and reliability and other barriers to accessing services and support.
Some groups within the community are disproportionately impacted by poverty due to a combination of various socio-economic factors, such as lone-parent families, larger families, disabled people, care leavers, minority ethnic groups and unpaid carers who face distinct barriers to financial security, increasing the likelihood of financial hardship.
In developing the strategy and action plans we have considered how different groups of people and areas are impacted, their distinct needs and their barriers to accessing support. We will take a targeted approach and prioritise and deliver the actions to proactively address deep rooted inequalities.
Three cross-cutting considerations will be embedded across what we plan to do, as well as the how we intend to do it.
- Tackling stigma, blame and judgement - challenging negative perceptions and promoting dignity and respect in all services, communications and decisions.
- Living and lived experience at the centre - ensuring people with living and lived experience are meaningfully involved in shaping services, policies and decisions that affect them.
- Focus on target groups and communities - prioritising the most impacted communities and residents experiencing the highest levels of inequalities, including minority ethnic groups, lone parents, disabled people and care leavers.
