Debt Trap Nation: Family Homelessness in a Failing State

Income inequality is widening in countries throughout the developed world, but the United Kingdom is among the most unequal. Rising living expenses and shrinking government assistance trap ever more people in a deteriorating quality of life. That decline is evident in unequal access to childcare, schooling, transportation, medical care, and, perhaps most important, housing. Each form of inequality renders the others more likely, further immiserating people. The statistics and stories recounted here are shocking: children shunted into mass state care facilities akin to orphanages, one-seventh of British public housing not meeting minimum government standards, and a striking correlation between substandard housing and domestic abuse. Those affected are disproportionately women, children, and racial minorities. Many individuals and organizations in the United Kingdom profit from the systems that disadvantage such people, and even those sympathetic to their plight, such as the current government, seem unable or unwilling to alleviate their misfortune.