Ipsos HotHouse Wins Award For Poverty Research

Ipsos Hothouse won the 2007 MRS Public Policy / Social Research Effectiveness Award for research conducted on behalf of The Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

The research — Make poverty a story: Understanding and shaping attitudes to 21st century UK poverty — explored public attitudes to UK poverty and suggests that the term "poverty" is not one people relate to within a UK context and therefore communication about what it really means needs to be more sophisticated.

Julian Thompson, Director, commented:

"It was a piece of qualitative research to understand why a significant proportion of people in England are not aware of, or sympathetic towards, the plight of the poor in the UK. We found a host of cultural, economic, and political reasons why people are reluctant to engage with a domestic anti-poverty agenda, but we also developed some promising communications themes which charities can use to influence attitudes over time."

Anne Harrop, Director of Research at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said:

"This project was undertaken as part of our Public Interest in Poverty Issues programme, which aims to build understanding of attitudes to poverty and to explore the implications of these attitudes for communication and change. This research challenges and redefines the agenda around modern day poverty and the recognition given by this award will help us get these important messages to an even wider audience."

The judges said of the research:

"It stood out from a strong and varied field as both an important programme of work, well executed, and having a significant impact on improving understanding of a major issue."

The award was presented at a ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Monday 10 December.