Published
Apr 16, 2015Page count
336 pagesISBN
978-1447315704Dimensions
216 x 138 mmImprint
Policy PressPublished
May 28, 2014Page count
336 pagesISBN
978-1447315605Dimensions
216 x 138 mmImprint
Policy PressPublished
May 28, 2014Page count
336 pagesISBN
978-1447315629Dimensions
Imprint
Policy PressPublished
May 28, 2014Page count
336 pagesISBN
978-1447315636Dimensions
Imprint
Policy Press
Austerity Bites
In the media
On our blog: 'Finding Our Voice: Project Twist-It'
On our blog: 'May can say all she likes that austerity is over – the people affected know the truth'
Voted one of the Guardian best books of 2014 by Owen Jones. After coming to power in May 2010, the Coalition government in the United Kingdom embarked on a drastic programme of cuts to public spending and introduced a raft of austerity measures that had profoundly damaging effects on much of the population. This bestselling book by award-winning journalist Mary O’Hara chronicles the true impact of austerity on people at the sharp end, based on her ‘real-time’ 12-month journey around the country just as the most radical reforms were being rolled out in 2012 and 2013. Drawing on hundreds of hours of compelling first-person interviews, with a broad spectrum of people ranging from homeless teenagers, older job-seekers, pensioners, charity workers, employment advisers and youth workers, as well as an extensive body of research and reports, the book explores the grim reality of living under the biggest shakeup of the welfare state in 60 years. with a new Foreword by Mark Blyth, Professor of International Political economy and International Studies at Brown University, USA, Austerity Bites dispels any notion that “we are all in this together” and offers an alternative to the dominant and simplistic narrative that we inhabit a country of “skivers versus strivers".
"A fine record of how it feels to be among those who have been selected to pay the highest price for a crisis they had no part in producing." Sociology
"Should be required reading for every MP, peer, councillor, civil servant and commentator. The fury and sense of powerlessness that so many people feel at government policy beam out of every page." Melissa Benn, Guardian
Voted one of the Guardian best books of 2014 by Owen Jones
"Strips bare the reality of what Osbornomics means for human beings and, crucially, gives a platform to voices that are otherwise unheard and deliberately ignored." The Guardian
"One of the best critiques I have ever read of how 'WongaLand', the profiteering by money lenders and pawn shops, has caused massive financial burdens and hardships for the poorest families whilst making massive profits for the businesses." Sociology
"Mary O'Hara's book strips away the rhetoric to reveal the truth. The United Kingdom is not the land of fairness, it's a fearful place, where the heaviest burdens fall on the weakest." Simon Duffy, Director of the Centre for Welfare Reform
"Both the immediate injustice and the waste of human potential leap from the pages of this book." Kitty Stewart, LSE
"A welcome addition to our understanding of the real meaning of austerity in comtemporary Britain." Community Development Journal
"A thoroughly authentic, fair but passionate account of a Britain that we at Community Links know only too well. It's a powerful story, too little heard and understood, but brilliantly told. I hope you will send a copy to the Prime Minister." David Robinson, OBE, Founder of Community Links
"Austerity Bites is a book brimming with anger at the multiple injustices in the United Kingdom and how the current austerity programme is underpinning and exacerbating these inequalities." Disability & Society
"Travelling around the country interviewing people allowed Mary O’Hara to harness first-hand accounts of the fallout of cuts in the UK. Austerity Bites brings together many poignant stories of people affected by the first impact of the coalition government's choice to impose social austerity on Britain." Danny Dorling, University of Oxford
“Mary O'Hara’s mission is to give voice to those experiencing hardship or injustice who are rarely heard. She travelled the UK for a year to bear witness to the effects of Austerity Britain and we should all pay attention to the result.” Janine Gibson, Editor in Chief, Guardian US
"An uncomfortable but necessary read" Robin Ince
“Mary O'Hara has written a powerful and vivid account of the regressive and harmful impact of public spending cuts, which gives voice to those who are suffering. Read it and be angry. Pass it on. Send a copy to your MP. To echo one of her interviewees: those in power need to listen.” Professor the Baroness (Ruth) Lister of Burtersett
"This book is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the great human cost of austerity. Read it, get angry and get active." Josie Long, writer, activist and comedian
Mary O’Hara is an award-winning journalist, author and producer. Her journalism appears in publications including The Guardian and Mosaic Science. She is the author of two books: The Shame Game: Overturning the toxic poverty narrative (2020) & Austerity Bites: A journey to the sharp end of cuts in the UK (2014) and is founder of the multi-platform anti-poverty initiative, Project Twist-It. Mary has directed/produced short films, run a comedy club, been a Fulbright Scholar at UC Berkeley and a producer and consultant on Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness. In 2020 she was named Best Foreign Columnist at the Southern California Journalism Awards.
Foreword by Mark Thomas;
Foreword by Mark Blyth;
Preface to the paperback edition;
Introduction;
Money’s too tight to mention;
The big squeeze;
Welcome to ‘Wongaland’;
Work maketh the person;
All work and no pay;
Bearing the brunt;
A life lived in fear is a life half lived;
Conclusion
Afterword to the paperback edition.
