"Financially excluded" is a way to describe people who live in poverty in the developed world. These are people who may not have enough to eat, enough money to heat and power their homes, who have no access to a computer, bank accounts or home insurance.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation state that, "One and a half million households [in the UK] lack even the most basic of financial products, such as a current account and home contents insurance. A further 4.4 million are on the margins of financial services provision", creating a self-perpetuating situation where they are unable to take advantage of ways to save money (such as paying bills by Direct Debit) or to work (through not having a bank account) because of the poverty they already live in, and they are also unable to save money in the bank. Living life while financially excluded is considerably more expensive.
At highest risk of financial exclusion in the UK are those on low incomes or benefit claimants, single people, those of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin, those who rent their homes, and those who left school before gaining qualifications.
One of the biggest risks of financial exclusion is the vulnerability of those who are excluded to the threat of loan sharks. Microfinance initiatives, such as Credit Unions, are increasingly proposed as one solution to removing people from poverty and financial exclusion.
