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The Stigma Free Futures Design Team developed this manifesto to set out what we believe needs to change. It is rooted in lived and living experience, collective reflection, research, storytelling and a shared commitment to dignity.
Our Manifesto
Poverty stigma is not inevitable. It is created through systems, stories, policies and everyday interactions — and it can be dismantled.
Our priorities for ending poverty stigma
What it says
Poverty and poverty stigma are deeply connected. Stigma makes people feel personally responsible for poverty. It turns shame inward. It separates people from one another.
But poverty is not a personal failure. It is shaped by political choices, economic systems, institutional practices and social attitudes.
Ending poverty stigma means changing more than language. It means changing how power is held, how resources are shared, and how decisions are made.
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How to use it
Use it as a conversation starter, a campaign tool, a design brief, a checklist for policy and a public commitment to treat people with dignity.
Who it is for
For policymakers, public services, media, funders, organisations and communities ready to move from sympathy to solidarity — and from stigma to structural change.
Who made it
Our team is made up of people who have lived experience of poverty and poverty stigma; alongside racism, care experience, disability, gender and/or sexuality-based oppression and discrimination. We share a commitment to fighting poverty and economic injustice and abolishing poverty stigma.
The Design Team identified four priorities for ending poverty stigma.
PERSONAL AND
COLLECTIVE
TRANSFORMATION
Poverty stigma can be carried in the body, in memory, in relationships and in the way people come to see themselves.
This means:
• Creating spaces of safety, dignity and belonging.
• Recognising that shame is produced by systems, not personal failure.
• Making room for anger, grief, joy, hope and collective power.
KNOW-HOW AND
TOOLS TO RECOGNISE
AND CHALLENGE STIGMA
Poverty stigma often hides in plain sight. People and organisations need practical tools to recognise stigma and challenge it where it appears.
This means:
• Looking closely at language, imagery, policy and practice.
• Recognising how services can unintentionally shame or dehumanise people.
• Building confidence to name stigma when it happens.
LIVED EXPERIENCE
TRULY PART OF
DECISION-MAKING
People with lived and living experience of poverty stigma hold vital knowledge about how systems work and how they need to change.
This means:
• Recognising lived experience as expertise.
• Sharing power in decisions about resources, priorities and design.
• Valuing collective knowledge, not just individual testimony.
IMAGINING NEW SYSTEMS
WHERE WORK DOES
NOT DEFINE WORTH
Poverty stigma is closely tied to ideas about work, productivity and deservingness.
This means:
• Breaking the link between work and human worth.
• Challenging systems that treat people as burdens.
• Imagining futures where everyone has what they need to live well.
Poverty stigma is not simply a consequence of poverty. It helps sustain the systems, narratives, and relationships that keep poverty in place.
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Use the Manifesto
The manifesto is designed to be used — in meetings, campaigns, classrooms, services, policy spaces and collective action. Start where you are and use it to ask sharper questions about stigma, power and dignity.
Make it public
Share the priorities, invite people to buy in, and connect the manifesto to local campaigns and public commitments.
Audit a policy
Check language, assumptions, eligibility rules, forms, imagery and decision points for stigma and hidden shame.
Run a conversation
Use the manifesto prompts to open a discussion about where poverty stigma shows up and what your group can change.