"waking up in bad housing conditions which saps the will to do anything" - "being old and living alone. I am sick. I am afraid of loneliness … I cry a lot but try to look calm and collected when I go out." - "being paid regularly, but my debts still mounting up anyway" - "days without bread are the longest days" - "stealing our future by keeping us out of touch with the knowledge-based society" - "what really wears homeless people out is time. Always waiting, always being on the go…" - "hard to talk about, but when I did start to talk to others I felt no different from them and I wasn’t embarrassed" - "my children inheriting my poverty" - "constant pressure. It wears you down. Nobody prepared me for living in such harsh conditions" - "being undocumented, so for you I don’t exist" - "working full-time, but … not earning enough to make a decent living" - "every agency wanting the same papers. And more photocopies every time"

What is POVERTY ?

Poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon: it is not simply the lack of financial resources and income, whether through employment or social benefits. It also encompasses the notion of vulnerability, precariousness, lack of opportunities, and denial of rights, such as access to education and health, culture, housing, employment, services and infrastructure, as well as access to information and political participation.

Back to the coalition: contacts and addresses

USEFUL DOCUMENTS

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This explainer aims to make poverty more visible, understood, and acted on, as part of EAPN’s build-up campaign to 2010: the EU year against poverty. Read more and access the publication in English and French.

Voices of People experiencing Poverty
EU
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