Matt Williams on Money and Family Relationships

Matt N. Williams, Money Can’t Fix Everything: The Impact of Family Relationships on Poverty (Cambridge: Jubilee Centre, 2020).

The Jubilee Centre has published a new report, this one by Matt Williams, arguing that ‘family dysfunction is a key driver in poverty and, because of this, healthier families are a big part of the solution’.

Here are some paragraphs from the Jubilee Centre:

‘If you look at the manifestos of political parties on both the left and the right, you’ll see a pattern emerge; in many cases, tackling poverty is seen as a left-wing concern, whilst strengthening family is the sole province of the politically right. This separation of key social and economic issues along political lines is all too common. But what if, after taking a holistic look at the ugly wound of poverty, we find that it’s not just unhelpful, but impossible to talk about poverty without the family?

‘This booklet starts by painting three pictures of contemporary poverty, covering public consciousness of poverty in both Africa and the UK. In part II, it explores how we can recover the overlooked economic reality of family, arguing that the Scriptures give us a holistic perspective on family as part of a wider socio-economic vision. Finally, part III brings this biblical perspective to bear on today’s world. It suggests ways in which these ideas can be applied to face the contemporary challenge of poverty in three key areas: households, churches and government policy.’

The booklet is available as a pdf here, in exchange for an email address.