Why Poverty Persists and How to Fix It

Despite being a focal point of Labour's 2024 election campaign, poverty continues to rise. Can empathy help fix it?

'An important and necessary book' - Roman Krznaric

'This urgent book gives us renewed hope' - Natasha Carthew

Despite being a focal point of Labour's 2024 election campaign, poverty continues to rise. It's now been 20 years since a prolonged decrease in poverty rates, with 14.3 million people and 31% of UK children living in poverty in 2025. Fixing inequality has never been more urgent.

In this eye-opening book, expert and host of the Poverty Unpacked podcast Keetie Roelen argues that empathy -not policy alone - is the missing ingredient in the fight against poverty. She takes readers inside poverty's lived experience across the social spectrum, explores the latest ideas and programmes to combat it across the globe, and arms readers with the information needed to enact lasting social change.

'If you want to understand the reality of poverty, start by reading this book' - Olivier De Schutter

'A stellar piece of work from a seasoned researcher' - Mary O'Hara

'A unique, sensitively-crafted and much-needed book' - Sarah P Corbett

Previously published as The Empathy Fix.

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