Prioritise Poverty Prevention — Taxpayers Against Poverty
£75bn
Annual cost of
poverty to the UK
14m
People living
in poverty
4.5m
Children
in poverty
Every year, the cost of poverty rises. Every year, the numbers worsen. Not because nothing is spent, but because the money goes to managing crisis, not preventing it.
That £75 billion comes out of your pocket. Higher NHS demand. Increased welfare spending. Social care pressures. Lower tax revenues. The bill lands on you through stretched GP surgeries, overcrowded schools, and longer waits for everything.
You are already paying to keep 14 million people, including 4.5 million children in poverty.
“I’m really struggling balancing the bills, the rent, and also the food for the children and also for myself. Some sort of sacrifice is always happening, whether for myself or my children.” – Focus group participant
She is one of nearly five million people in working families living in poverty — trapped in a system that taxes her earnings but fails to invest in the services that would keep her afloat.
Living Wage Foundation, Life on Low Pay report, 2025
We would not accept "manage the symptoms" in medicine. Why do we accept it for poverty?
The evidence is clear. As laid out in our very own Nicolson Report, preventing poverty through properly funded public services, fairer taxation, and a social security system that covers the essentials costs less and works better than clearing up the many health and social issues afterwards. It is common sense economics.
Yet no government has made prevention the priority. No Parliament has agreed to assess whether the laws it passes make poverty better or worse.
Nobody is asking the most basic question: is this policy preventing poverty, or creating more of it?
We think it is time they did.
What we are asking MPs to do
Sign the Poverty Prevention Pledge — a public commitment to prioritise poverty prevention in their political work and decision-making, and to consider the poverty prevention impact of legislation before they vote.
Not a vague promise. A trackable commitment that voters can hold them to. Because if MPs had to think about poverty before they voted, the priorities would change, and so would the outcomes.
Add your name
We will deliver this petition to every MP in Parliament and keep you updated as the campaign grows.
Signed? Share it. Every name adds pressure on MPs to act.
Independent. Non-partisan. Evidence-led.
Founded by the late Rev Paul Nicolson. Led by Tom Burgess.
taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk
Taxpayers Against Poverty
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