Shockingly low incomes leave people without the basics

CAP’s latest polling with YouGov shows 397,000 (27%) adults who live in Northern Ireland say they currently have a deficit budget*, which means their income doesn’t cover their basic essentials.

Christians Against Poverty’s Lisburn Manager Paul Bailie, says, “This new report shows the brutal reality of living on a shockingly low income and how easy it can be to fall into debt.

“Whether it’s caring for a loved one, ill-health or a lack of suitable work opportunities, many people’s circumstances mean they have no or limited options to increase their income.

“A lot of local debt and poverty is hidden behind closed doors. There are individuals and families in our community who have empty fridges and are going hungry, living without the basics, and keeping their curtains closed out of fear of debt collectors.

“Lisburn Cathedral and other local churches, are working in partnership with the charity Christians Against Poverty to offer free Debt Advice.

“Poverty can be tackled. CAP has helped thousands of people to go debt free, improve their financial situations, and increase their skills and confidence to get back into work.

“This isn’t an impossible mission but in order to tackle the problem on a wider scale we need to see positive changes to systems in our society. To make that happen we need more people to join our campaign against poverty.

“If, like us, you're passionate about seeing people helped out of poverty you can join CAP’s campaign group for free at capuk.org/campaign.”

People who would like to support Lisburn CAP work to help local people can email Paul [email protected] make a donation.