What shapes prosperity for people in Hackney Wick?
"How can we have a prosperous life for everyone, people of all classes? The situation is precarious for people around here.”
Frances, a professional in her 50s working in the voluntary sector has lived in Hackney Wick for 20-years
The stories here describe what people living in Hackney Wick say about what prosperity and a prosperous community means to them. The research was carried out by citizen social scientists in 2015 and 2017.
Hackney Wick is located in the Borough of Hackney. It sits on the western edge of the Olympic Park, across from the River Lea.. Read more about the area and see the Prosperity Index data for Hackney Wick.
When talking about prosperity and opportunities to live well, people living in Hackney Wick focused on the following themes: secure livelihoods, opportunities for work and education, change in the neighbourhood, mobility and having a voice in how the area is changing.
Meanwhile in East London…Hackney Wick, 2015
““Is Hackney Wick somewhere where people can have a good life?”
‘If you’d asked me this question 20 years ago, I might have said yes, now, no […] because all of the facilities that were around 20 years ago have now all gone […] Everything’s gone, for instance, my mum is disabled, I’m her carer, that’s why I’m here, all the places she can go into and be looked after, they’re all gone, so I have to […] give up my work so I can look after my mum’.”
SECURE livelihoods
“How can we have a prosperous life for everyone, people of all classes? The situation is precarious for people around here. The combination of unaffordable housing, zero hours contracts, portfolio careers … people have no security. Jobs are not good quality … this is a toxic mix.”
Hackney Wick, E. Starling 2015
Frances’ quote about the “toxic mix” of insecure and low-wage work and rapidly rising housing costs connects to the issue of livelihood insecurity, which was discussed by many people in Hackney Wick, as well as research participants in Stratford and East Village,
People often think only about work in relation to the term ‘livelihood’ but this research shows that people rely on a range of connected resources, supports and activities for livelihood security. This research identified four overlapping components of livelihood security in East London.
Dimensions of secure livelihoods based on 2015 research
In Hackney Wick people talked about how unaffordable housing and zero hours contracts put pressures on households who need to draw on informal supports from family, friends and neighbours.
In Stratford, young people were felt to be disproportionately affected by the lack of good quality and secure work. People living in East Village - many of who are relatively new residents to east London - talked about high rates of population turnover in rented accommodation linked to very high housing costs.
Many people talked about how livelihood insecurity is a localised effect of national and global policies and processes that shape prosperity in ways that people have little direct control over. For example, people gave the example of International investments in the UK property market, which are linked both to planning and policy decisions taken by central government, and the presence in Hackney Wick, of Europe’s largest creative community that attracts regeneration investment. People also identified global trends towards zero hours contracts that directly affect local job markets.
opportunities for work and education
Members of the Citizen Science team, 2015
The challenge of trying to find decent work was an issue discussed by both young and older residents in Hackney Wick, during the 2017 interview process.
Susan and Harry, two older residents in the neighbourhood talked about their experience of trying to find work.
S: Do you know how many jobs I’ve applied for in the past three months? I’ve lost count. I can show you how many times I’ve been knocked back. […] We’re too old […] They don’t want experience […] they want people they can run cheap. Cheap labour […]
H: There’s no prospect, just say it straight, that’s how it is. There’s no prospects.
S: You know, there’s nothing for the older generation […]
H: ‘[…] you’re not worth anything in hand. You’re worthless.
S: I wouldn’t say we’re worthless.
H: That’s how they record it.
S: That’s how they make you feel.Interview with residents in Hackney Wick, 2017.
“‘To get a good job, a well-paid job you need to have a certain level of education and you need to have like I don’t know, certain employers won’t employ you if they feel like you’re not good enough for their company […] they can employ whoever they want at the end of the day. So I feel like yeah we are being left behind.’”
“I live in one of these blocks here, so I don’t think my way of life in that way will change, whether things get, you know, more prosperous or less prosperous. I mean my place will still just be the same.”
Canal boats, Hackney Wick, 2020
“There’s a real small group of the movers and shakers of Hackney, who you know will be at every kind of event […] But once they lose their ability to move around feely, they become so terribly isolated, they very quickly slip into real crisis of being very lonely […] ”
influence, choice and control
While people are aware of exceptional success stories of others influencing change, young people in the focus group in Hackney felt as though they could not impact significant development plans. People talk about how they are invited to consult, but even when they speak their minds out, they do not know what happened with the information they gave.
Following a debate about means of getting their voice heard – which included protest and suggestions for a local youth council – Richard, one of the young residents, asserted:
‘they could make a difference but for how long is that difference gonna be like eventually it’s just gonna go right back to how it was […] you don’t have a say like you say something and it still don’t get – nothing’s getting done’.
Interestingly, no residents talked about the possibility of affecting change through the formal mechanisms, such as the Wick Award.
isolation & MOBILITY
Isolation, mobility challenges and their effects on the mental health of older residents in Hackney Wick were identified as a problem. One community worker pointed out that older residents who do not have many opportunities to leave their home get into routines that are out-of-sync with neighbourhood services like lunch clubs and social groups:
‘a lot of older people who sleep in the daytime, and then obviously there’s nothing at night time, so they sort of lose being up and doing things at the time that’s acceptable. And I know, although lunch clubs say they’re quite flexible, from my experiences, they all serve dinner at 12 […] you’ve got to be there ready. So if you’re not, someone whose kept a […] routine, then you can quickly sort of drift off and miss anything that’s on offer.’
Note: The community worker was part of an interviewed focus group conformed by carers and staff from Hackney CVS, who worked with older residents in Hackney, 2017 .
For people with limited or no private transport, accessing goods and services outside of the neighbourhood can determine whether or not an older resident gets to enjoy services. As an example, transportation was limited to an overground station and one bus in the Hackney Wick area. The bus was heavily relied upon by older residents, who had to travel to get shopping and do chores to another neighbourhood, Tower Hamlets, but they didn’t find it easy to use.
Lila, a carer in Hackney CVS, referring to her mother’s use of the Salvation Army services, says::
‘if that wasn’t around I think she’ll be so depressed because she lost her partner 5 years ago and there was nothing for her to do, there is like a community centre and that’s all the way in Dalston and I mean if I don’t go and pick her up because it’s a lot [of money] for transport, it’s about a fiver a day just for transport to take her to this place, so we said no we’ll stop that.’
Hackney Wick, 2015