October 17th marks the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty — a day of global solidarity, reflection, and hope. It’s a call to action to move beyond charity and towards justice; to build systems that listen to, respect, and empower families to shape their own futures.
This year’s theme, “Ending social and institutional maltreatment by ensuring respect and effective support for families,” couldn’t be more relevant for Wales — and for us at Faith in Families Swansea.
Poverty doesn’t just mean living without enough money. It’s about being unheard, unseen, and unsupported. It’s about families navigating systems that are meant to help but too often humiliate. It’s about children growing up believing that struggle is their normal.
As this year’s UN theme reminds us, ending poverty means ending maltreatment — both social and institutional — and replacing it with respect, dignity, and equality.
The Reality in Wales Today
According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Poverty in Wales 2025 report, the situation remains deeply concerning:
- 700,000 people in Wales — one in five — are living in poverty. That includes 200,000 children, 400,000 working-age adults, and 100,000 pensioners.
- 31% of children in Wales now live in poverty — and nearly half of all people in poverty are in “very deep” poverty, meaning their income is less than 40% of the UK median.
- The poverty gap — the distance between the poverty line and household income — is the widest it’s been in three decades. For a couple with two children, it would take £13,500 a year just to reach the poverty threshold.
- Families with children under 5 are most at risk: 45% of those families live in poverty, the highest rate recorded since the 1990s.
- Wales’s destitution rate has doubled since 2017 — meaning thousands can’t afford the basics to stay warm, dry, and fed.
Behind every statistic are real people — children, parents, grandparents — trying to hold their families together under pressure that no one should face.
Cherrie Bija, CEO of Faith in Families, said:
"At Faith in Families, we believe in Hugs Not Handouts. We meet families where they are listening without judgement and building pathways to hope. When we treat people with respect, dignity, kindness, and compassion, we stand with them and say: Poverty is not fair. Poverty is not right. We do not want to raise resilient children who simply survive adversity, we want to end the adversity itself. Children deserve to be children. And adults , all of us, must come together to change the systems and society that ever allowed these shocking inequalities to exist. Government, charities, the private and public sector, and every one of us in our communities must refuse to accept a Wales where any child is hungry or cold. When we act with compassion, courage, and unity love wins. And when love wins, children thrive, families flourish, and communities heal."
The Impact in Swansea Bay
In Swansea Bay alone, an estimated 32,000 children and young people are growing up in poverty — that’s nearly one in three. In neighbourhoods across Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, and Carmarthenshire, many families are already in what researchers call “very deep poverty”, surviving on less than half of what most people take for granted as basic income.
The consequences are devastating: children going to school hungry; parents skipping meals to keep the lights on; young people leaving school early because home life is too hard to focus on exams.
Faith in Families’ Community Cwtches and Cwtch Mawr Multibank are lifelines — offering everything from food and nappies to mental health support, play therapy, and parenting groups. But more than anything, they offer community; a sense that no one faces hardship alone. The UN’s Interniational Day for Eradication of Poverty is so important.
Karen Devonshire, Head of Trustees at Faith in Families, added:
“Families in Swansea are doing everything they can to stay afloat, but they’re swimming against a tide of inequality. We can’t expect families to thrive when systems treat them as statistics. The UN’s call to end institutional maltreatment reminds us all — policymakers, communities, and organisations — that respect must be at the heart of every decision. Faith in Families is proof that when you build partnerships instead of barriers, real change happens.”
A Call to Action - Eradication of Poverty
The UN’s message this year is simple but profound: Put the furthest behind first.
That’s what Faith in Families does every day. By working alongside parents, not above them; by giving children safe spaces to grow and dream; and by helping families rebuild from crisis with compassion and practical support.
Poverty isn’t inevitable — it’s the result of choices, policies, and priorities. On October 17th, let’s choose differently. Let’s listen more, act with respect, and rebuild systems that lift families up instead of holding them back.
Together, We Can End Poverty
To support our work, visit faithinfamilies.wales or follow our journey online. Every conversation, every partnership, every #HugNotHandout moves us one step closer to a Wales where no child grows up in poverty.
