Collaborating for change: The importance of multi-sector partnerships in addressing poverty and inequality through decent work

Work has stopped being a means to eradicating poverty; More than half of those living in poverty come from a household with at least one working adult. In-work poverty is multifaceted and has experiences across both work and non-work lives, and leads to profound consequences for individuals, their families, and society as a whole. It also has important spillover implications for organisations and managers, diverting their attention and creating rising costs. In this paper we outline the important role for organisations to address poverty, through building a case for decent work. We outline a collaborative multi-sector approach based on partnerships with six key stakeholders whose engagement and collaboration increase awareness and understanding about work and how it can be improved for workers, their families and society as a whole. This work with City of Edinburgh Council, in Scotland, combines processes of open dialogue, knowledge-generation, and dissemination between the stakeholders focusing on creating a fairer world, where people’s experiences are prioritised over economic imperatives, and where human flourishing can occur in tandem with ecological flourishing.