{"id":1879,"date":"2013-07-19T15:17:36","date_gmt":"2013-07-19T13:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/euroalter.local\/news\/start-with-the-soul-not-with-the-handbag\/"},"modified":"2020-03-03T12:20:08","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T11:20:08","slug":"start-with-the-soul-not-with-the-handbag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/euroalter.com\/it\/start-with-the-soul-not-with-the-handbag\/","title":{"rendered":"START WITH THE SOUL NOT WITH THE HANDBAG"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of our project on\u00a0making a living<\/a>, we’re looking at how helpful different forms of support are to help young people cope with precarity. In the last post<\/a>, we looked at the situation people are faced with. Here we look at their attitudes towards the state.<\/p>\n

Start with the soul not with the handbag<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>

Weed to shift mindsets, we need to look at what people themselves can bring to the table, not just as consumers but as citizens, as highlighted by @hilarycottam in Relational Welfare<\/a>. We need to start with people not with savings, providing the stimulus that revitalises their wellbeing, not just their spending power.\u00a0<\/span>

We also need to start changing the arguments. It\u2019s not about who is deserving of help or not. It\u2019s neither only about defining who is poor or not. It\u2019s about understanding how that poverty is experienced, how people\u2019s social and cultural relationships define what they see as their material needs and what they see as socially acceptable \u2013 \u201chard working families\u201d \u2013 or not \u2013 \u201cbenefit scroungers\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>

Why do you think so many people want to define themselves as anything other than \u201cworking class\u201d? People don\u2019t want to feel either deserving of fear or pity. Which is why many try and hide away from the helping hand of the state. Which is they become labelled as \u201chard to reach\u201d or \u201cseldom heard\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>Which is why even some of the best services like children’s centres don\u2019t reach them as well as they could.<\/span>

\nRespect, dignity and hope \u2013 nurturing a sense of collective belonging<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>

Recognition and respect are just as important as redistribution.\u00a0<\/span>A school which nurtures relationship building is just as valuable as one which nurtures exam success, depending on whether we want to create good little consumers or good citizens<\/strong>. Recognition that services can be improved by the mutual interests of staff and users working together.\u00a0<\/span>Providing public services that treat people with dignity, values their contributions and develops a sense of collective belonging.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n