Re-thinking destitution in the UK: typologies, spaces and transitions

Destitution, a severe form of poverty still persists in modern, industrialised nations such as the UK despite a robust, social security system in place. Increased use of food banks, inadequate housing provisions etc. point to evidence that there are those who experience such extreme forms of deprivation. There is therefore the need to understand why destitution persists and if it might be possible to contemplate alternative approaches beyond the currently employed legal frameworks focussing mostly on asylum seekers. This commentary presents a conceptualising of various spaces and types of destitutes in the UK and points to where policy makers and the third sector might sector intervene so that transitions from not destitute to being destitute might be reduced.