Over the past decade, the narrative around inequality has changed dramatically. Inequality is now widely accepted as one of the – if not the – biggest issue of the 21st century. Think tanks and charities produce endless research and reports on inequality and its effects, but real people’s voices and stories of inequality specifically are not well evidenced in this work.
There is currently no platform or forum providing information or access to the lived experience of inequality or its everyday impacts in the UK, especially not in an accessible way. There is also a general lack of shared knowledge about what it is like to experience inequality everyday, what that includes and how its specificities range across different contexts. We think that this is stifling the possibilities for change and debate about contemporary Britain.
Inequality affects us all, but we know that it is the people who are most affected by inequality whose stories we hear the least. They’re also more likely to be over-looked, go un-consulted or are simply discredited or shamed when they do speak out about their experience.
This needs to change.