“The scale of money required for systemic transformation is nowhere near the scale of money that philanthropy is offering.” ~ Immy Kaur, Civic Square
The context of our work
We enter 2023 at a moment of profound challenge. This winter 7.2 million low-income households are going without essentials – hungry, cold, without basics like showers, toiletries or adequate clothing, and 4.7 million are behind on their bills.
We know this is not just the result of the current ‘cost-of-living crisis’. It comes on the back of years of economic and social failure. For a decade and a half, we have seen no meaningful improvements in living standards, especially for people on lower incomes.
Over decades our country has become much wealthier – but this wealth is tightly concentrated, with inheritance becoming more important to life chances. Improvements in life expectancy have stalled and for some are going backwards, while we see deeply worrying trends in mental health.
Underneath all of these economic and social challenges lie some long-term changes that we’ve been grappling with for years – the climate emergency, the digital revolution, the acceleration of an ageing population – all of which demand that we think very differently about what it will take for people and planet to thrive.
Our mission
Over the last 12 months, JRF has been reviewing and updating its mission. Our commitment to social change in today’s context means taking urgent action to address the impact of poverty on people’s lives. It also means paying attention to the deeper and more radical changes that are needed to address the twin challenges of inequality and climate emergency.
We are committed to doing all we can to support and speed up the transition to a more equitable and just future, free from poverty, where people and planet can thrive.
We know that we will need to focus on a number of different themes: