A Crime to be Poor?

Imagine being fined for sleeping on a bench. Or prosecuted for not paying a TV licence while barely being able to make food and rent. Or ordered to leave town for loitering – when you have nowhere else to go.

For countless people across the UK, this isn’t hypothetical. It’s daily life. The criminalisation of poverty is no longer a fringe concern – it’s written into the laws that govern our streets, our courts, and our councils.

And it’s getting worse.

Poverty Is Not a Crime – But It’s Being Treated Like One

Over 16 million people in the UK now live in poverty, including 5.2 million children. But instead of tackling the root causes – low wages, insecure housing, or underfunded public services – successive governments have responded with punishment.

Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) powers allow councils to fine, exclude, or prosecute people for behaviours like begging, sleeping rough, or loitering. These are not criminal offences in themselves – but when orders are breached, criminal penalties kick in. Under the new Crime and Policing Bill 2025, these powers are being expanded again.

We’ve been here before. The infamous ASBOs (Anti-Social Behaviour Orders) were scrapped after years of evidence showed they were ineffective and disproportionately used against the most marginalised. The Respect Orders proposed under the Bill risk repeating the same mistakes, empowering authorities to criminalise people on the vague basis that it’s “just and convenient” to do so.

Public Spaces Are Off Limits – If You’re Poor

If you’re visibly poor, the message is clear: move along, or else.

ASB tools like Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) have been used to ban rough sleeping, begging, and even sitting in doorways. Fines can reach £100 on the spot, with non-payment risking prosecution and penalties of up to £1,000. For those who can’t pay – as many can’t – this can quickly escalate to court, debt, and even jail time.

It’s not about safety. It’s about appearance. Studies have found PSPOs overwhelmingly target street homelessness – but often don’t link people to any support.

Need to Eat? That Might Be a Crime Too

Shoplifting in the UK has hit record highs – and part of this is because of hunger. With food insecurity at crisis levels – driven by 2010s austerity and today’s cost-of-living pressures – more than 1.8 million emergency food parcels were given to families with children last year, a 46% rise in five years. Many are stealing baby food, toiletries, and essentials they simply can’t afford.

Yet instead of addressing this crisis, the Crime and Policing Bill proposes removing the £200 threshold that currently diverts low-value thefts away from the courts. The likely result? More people criminalised for trying to survive.

Punished for Being Home

Add to that the UK’s unusual zeal for prosecuting TV licence evasion – a non-violent offence that resulted in over 28,000 prosecutions last year, 73% of them women. In fact, in 2019, almost one-third of all convictions against women in England and Wales were for this single offence.

Fines, Fees and the Poverty Trap

Court fines make up 75% of criminal sentences in England and Wales. But they often hit hardest where there’s least to give. People are fined for offences rooted in poverty – like fare-dodging, shop theft, or begging – and then further punished when they can’t pay.

Many magistrates have raised concerns about the system’s failure to assess ability to pay. Add non-means-tested surcharges, prosecution fees, and bailiff charges, and a £100 fine can snowball into hundreds in debt.

It’s a Kafkaesque trap: you’re too poor to pay the fine that punishes you for being poor.

The Revolving Door Crisis

For many, this isn’t a one-off experience – it’s a cycle. People living with poverty, trauma, addiction or mental illness are repeatedly drawn into the criminal justice system for survival behaviours like rough sleeping, theft of essentials, or breaching civil orders. These are not dangerous individuals. Yet short prison sentences and repeat court fines disrupt housing, treatment and family stability – and push people further into crisis. Nearly 60% of people sentenced to six months or less reoffend within a year.

Punishment doesn’t stop the cycle. Support does.

We Need a Different Approach

Punishing poverty doesn’t solve poverty. It entrenches it.

Community-based outreach works. “Housing First” approaches – offering stable homes with wraparound support – have reduced long-term homelessness more effectively than shelters or enforcement.

Support-led alternatives cost less and achieve more. But they’re underfunded while enforcement budgets rise.

We need to flip the equation. Instead of criminalising rough sleepers, invest in safe housing. Instead of fines for begging, ensure people can access adequate social security. Instead of arresting someone for stealing baby milk, make sure they don’t need to.

The UN put it clearly in 2024: “Criminalisation is not a rational or proportionate response to enhancing public order and safety”.

It’s time we listened.