Hello everyone, its John Chiko again. I will be focusing on the cost of living crisis and its effect on Coventry and its people. Coventry is a working-class city, most people here do not have expendable income that they can use for extracurricular activities that will allow them access to more of the joyous and luxurious experiences in life.

According to Nomis, a service provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK’s largest independent producer of officer statistics of the 71.8% in employment in Coventry, just over 90% (167,200 people) are employees, and just under 10% (17,000 people) are self-employed, while 10,500 people are unemployed.

Source: Office for National Statistics

Now as you can imagine, all these individuals have been affected by the cost-of-living crisis, which has created a spike in prices of all goods and services. These are the people that can be documented and accounted for by the system (who themselves have been greatly affected by the crisis), but what about those that are undocumented, like migrants and refugees that automatically do not have access to the same social services as those born in the UK and those with the right-to-remain in the country. But before we get into that, I believe that we need to focus a bit more on the unemployed of Coventry, so that we may understand the symptom of homelessness in the city.

The workless households of Coventry are a more interesting figure. There are 21,800 workless households in Coventry, which is 17.9% of all households within Coventry. As you can imagine, these households are maintained by Universal Credit and Benefits Schemes that are provided by the government, based on the circumstances that the individual(s) are experiencing. 17.9% is quite a high number for households that are workless, of course it is difficult to say why so many households are workless, however you could almost say there is a culture or way-of-life so to speak that has created this situation. Perhaps something generational, and I believe I know what it is, but we will get into that in the future.

I am sure you can imagine that the effect that the cost of living has had on all these people has been tremendous. Attitudes and purchasing habits have changed for all residents, even asking for a cigarette now has become a true test of friendship and responsibility. All those that are employed and those receiving benefits are facing a tough time when it comes it affording essentials. Now imagine what the homeless are going through.

Shelter (a charity that campaigns for tenant rights in Great Britain) estimates that more than 2,000 people, including 1,000 children are currently homeless in Coventry and Warwickshire. Shelter found that the number of people living in temporary accommodation had risen drastically across the country. Their research discovered that 2,208 people in Coventry and Warwickshire, including families, are in temporary accommodation or rough sleepers. Almost half of those without a home were children. These figures show the desperation that is currently taking place within the city of Coventry. So, the price of everything is going up and more people are becoming homeless… I’m sure that there is no correlation there.

What does it mean for the people of Coventry if the price of everything is going up, Social Services are less effective and more people are without a home? Is there any alleviation in sight, any bright light at the end of the tunnel, or are tough times coming ahead for the people of Coventry? I don’t mean to sound all gloom and doom, I’m just trying to assert that perhaps something needs to be done to prepare for the future, instead of waiting and believing that all of this is going to go away.

But that is all from me today. I am very much enjoying writing these reports, I hope you enjoy reading them. We will most certainly get to the bottom of the story of homelessness in Coventry, in all its greys. Thank you for reading this report, stay blessed and thank you for listening up.