"We wondered if this could be a factor in the increase in the use of food banks by the 'working poor."

As a group, we decided to narrow down our research area to a locality in Fife: Dunfermline and the West Fife Villages. My part of the research looks at the area of Abbeyview, which is within Dunfermline town. Abbeyview has an approximate population of 9,600 residents. Over the last few years, this area has been redeveloped with help from the, 'European Funding'. This enabled Fife Council to remove substandard housing stock and replace it with new-build provided by Fife Housing Group. The local authority committed to bringing the remaining housing stock up to the same standards as the 'new-build'. This along with the Council having a presence in the area (Abbeyview Local Office) went a long way to improving the area. Before the start of the process, 70% of the housing was Council/Housing Association with 30% In private hands. However, after the renovations, owner-occupied housing rose to 60% and only 40% remained in Council/Housing Association control. We wondered if this could be a factor in the increase in the use of food banks by the 'working poor.'  

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) stated "the number of workers in poverty hit four million last year, meaning one in eight in the economy are now classified as the working poor" as quoted in the Guardian Newspaper (Parklngton, 2018).