Thrive uses the sustainable livelihoods approach as a way to understand the reality of poverty that people face day to day. It explores the different assets which people have access to, and the interaction between them.

The research categorised four stages of people’s livelihoods: surviving, coping, adapting and accumulating (each of which has defining characteristics). Key to this is the extent to which a person’s livelihoods strategy is able to withstand external shocks. Together these are conceptualised as a ‘livelihoods ladder’ which people move up and down at different times in their lives. The aim of the project is to explore how people can move on from having a survival strategy to having a sustainable livelihood.

Key research findings were that:

• debt was very common , particularly amongst lone parents.The combination of high interest rates, inability to move beyond survival mode, lack of any assets and mental health problems particularly affected women.
• non financial assets were the most important assets with dependence on  families and social networks vital in combating the isolation they felt
• Women were poorer, in some cases this was due to being lone parents who given their caring role, could not earn income. Women also generally had access to lower paid jobs.
• Couples were more likely to be in a virtuous circle of asset growth, and single people and lone parents in a vicious circle of asset loss.
• Most people were unaware of, or uninterested in, local regeneration schemes. Few had any involvement in their local council or in the planning and delivery of services, and little belief that their involvement would make any difference to local decisions made.

The four stages of the ‘livelihoods ladder’ are classified as:

Surviving
• People feel that they are just surviving and life is a continual battle against things going wrong e.g. redundancy, illness of themselves or close relative, unwanted pregnancy, and are very vulnerable to external shocks
• Low self-esteem leads to a feeling that no-one is interested in them and that most support services are not for them
• Total reliance on benefits
• Arrears on rent or utility bills and high take up of doorstep/high interest credit
• Frequent use of strategies such as walking rather than paying for transport, borrowing from family and friends, living with in-laws or parents, not sending children on school trips, minimising food eaten, using candles for light, switching off heating, no treats

Coping
• People feel that that they are ‘getting by’ but there is not much prospect of them being any better off in the future. They can cope with minor external shocks, but are still vulnerable
• They may take advantage of support services but it usually does not help them enough to the next level, and they still feel alienated from power structures
• Unpaid and voluntary work and roles play an important part in women and men’s lives
• Total or partial reliance on benefits
• Low paid jobs often working at night for women or indangerous/risky labouring and building jobs for men
• Engaging in the informal economy
• Women still at risk from doorstep lending and high interest rates

Adapting
• People are actively working towards the future. They have a vision of what they want for the household, and what the opportunities are for achieving it.
• The strategies are robust enough to cope with many, but not all, external shocks.
• There is an interest in and engagement with community and public life
• At least one member of the household working in the formal economy
• Agreed balance of roles between male and female partners as to childcare and work
• Accessing mainstream credit

Accumulating
• People feel that life is going well for them and that it will continue to improve. They have a stock of assets which is used as a basis on which to build in the future, and which they use to cope with external shocks
• Working in the formal economy
• Home ownership
• Gaining advanced qualifications
• Having access to mortgage and mainstream credit

Households placed themselves on the livelihoods ladder in the following way: 3 surviving; 14 coping; 6 adapting; 1 accumulating.

The project is working to develop concrete projects identified by local people to address two or three key issues highlighted by the research, and working with local decision makers to see how the findings from this work can illuminate and contribute to local and regional economic development