Invisible poverty and the politics of survival: Examining the role of social enterprises and community-centred organisations in addressing poverty in Leicestershire and Rutland communities

Overview

Poverty in the UK has deepened with 14.3 million people living in poverty and the poverty rate in the East Midlands currently sitting at 20%, the same as it was in 2017-2019 (Cribb et al., 2021). 6 million of those affected are experience deep poverty, and 8.1 million working-age adults experiencing relative poverty (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2025). Contributing to these numbers is the fact that the East Midlands region has experience the third highest average rent increase after London and the West Midlands (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2025).

While much of the evidence on poverty is economic-centric, multiple dimensions of poverty demand urgent and sustained inquiry. For instance, Leicester’s child poverty is at 39.5% for children under 16, making it the 11th worst local authority in the UK for child poverty (Markham, 2023). Further, 19% of households were classified as fuel-poor, compared to 13.1% in England(Leicester City Council, 2023). Leicester’s unemployment is 6.7%, higher than the East Midlands average of 3.7% (Office for National Statistics, 2024). These statistics reveal the multifaceted nature of poverty in Leicester, impacting young people, households, the broader community and the country. Several reports on tackling poverty, such as the anti-poverty report by the Voluntary Action Leicestershire (VAL) (2025), offer actionable recommendations for anchor institutions and local authorities to address poverty.

In the wider effort to address poverty-related challenges, there is a increasingly recognised need to understand the invisibility of poverty and how it manifests across different human needs. Several themes of invisible poverty are noted in the highlighted reports. In-work poverty is prevalent due to insecure employment, especially zero-hour contracts and part-time and low-paid work. In addition, hidden homelessness, digital exclusion, health inequalities, undiagnosed needs (e.g., untreated mental health conditions) and food insecurity.

This project will build on previous research on the organisational resilience of social enterprises with VAL to explore the evolving systems and infrastructures developed by social enterprises and community-centred organisations to address invisible poverty. Importantly, this work also seeks to understand the lived experiences of individuals living through invisible poverty in Leicestershire and how this can shape local anti-poverty work.

VAL is a charity that has worked with local voluntary, community, and social enterprises to improve the lives of people in Leicestershire since 1965. In 2019, VAL supported rural employability projects through the £2.4m Work Live Leicestershire (WiLL) Project, breaking down social and economic barriers for people with a lack of transport and digital skills to access work.

This project has been co-created and is supported by researchers from De Montfort University, University of Leicester and partners at Voluntary Action Leicestershire. The successful candidate for this project will be enrolled at De Montfort University.

Project Aims:

The aims of this study are:

1. To identify the types of invisible poverty in Leicestershire and Rutland, including, but not limited to, ‘in-work’ poverty, and map its prevalence through geographic distribution.

2. To understand the experiences and survival strategies of people living invisibly in poverty.

3. To explore the evolving role of social enterprises and community organisations as alternative infrastructures in addressing invisible poverty in Leicestershire and Rutland.

4. To inform policy and service provision through evidence-based recommendations.

What is Collaboratory?

Collaboratory is a new research programme, led by Universities for Nottingham and the Leicester Universities Partnership, that places community knowledge and experience at the heart of research. This eight-year initiative is pioneering a new approach to collaboration, working closely with local communities and community-focused organisations to develop and deliver research that aligns with the needs and priorities of local communities.