“I need help now”: Trends in online conversations about poverty over 14 years of Conservative government

In 2023, Demos and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation collaborated on an exploratory pilot project to investigate:

• What can we learn from social media about people’s experiences of poverty and hardship in the UK?
• How can these learnings be scaled or tested in the future?

Following a successful trial, we extended this work into a year long programme consisting of four ‘waves’. Over the course of 2024, we took periodic samples of the online conversation to track how people are talking about their experiences, and what insights social media listening can support for better policy development which puts people’s needs and lived experience at its heart.

In May 2024 we launched our Wave One findings: ‘This system is rigged’. In August 2024, we launched Wave Two: ‘Fight Like Hell’, with updates to our methodology for gathering social media insights in this area. In October 2024, we launched Wave Three: ‘It can’t get any worse‘ capturing fresh perspectives for 2024.

This report is the fourth and final wave, which takes a retrospective look over the last 14 years of government up to August 2024, analysing various policy shifts and what these have meant for individuals living in financial hardship. Our analysis found a significant rise in the number of people seeking help online with disability benefits, Work Capability Assessments and heating bills during the 2022 energy crisis. We found frequent complaints of unfair treatment, long waiting times driving additional financial hardship, and negative interactions with assessors, with “stress and confusion” felt by those seeking help. 

Over the course of 2025, we will be renewing our partnership between JRF and Demos, bringing together new, up-to-date conversations with analysis of the political and policy landscape, to bring a greater depth and understanding of the context surrounding online discussions of poverty.