The current cost of living is pushing more people into poverty, with almost 68% of low income...
Families
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24/06/2013
‘Troubled Families’ programme expanded
The 'Troubled Families' programme in England is to be expanded, the coalition government has announced. In 2015-16, £200 million will be invested in providing intensive help to a further 400,000 high-risk families – on top of the £1 billion already committed to helping 120,000 families over the period 2010–2015. There will be new incentives for local services such as the police, health and social services to work more closely together in order to reduce costs and improve outcomes for families.
The announcement was reported as a victory for Louise Casey, the civil servant in charge of the programme, coming at a time when the coalition government is seeking to cut a further £11.5 billion from the public spending total in 2015-16.Category: News stories -
13/05/2013
Troubled families programme ‘on course’
Local councils in England are on course to meet the coalition government's target for turning around the lives of 'troubled' families, according to the latest progress report.
The government has pledged to support 120,000 families by 2015 – by improving children's school attendance, cutting youth crime and anti-social behaviour, and putting parents on a path back to work. Local councils are rewarded on a payment-by-results basis.
In March 2013, after the first year of the three-year programme, local councils were working with more than 35,000 troubled families – up from 22,000 in December 2012. Councils had also identified more than 66,000 of the 120,000 families the government is aiming to reach.
Category: Reports -
25/04/2013
Families left fragile by austerity
Financial pressures are increasingly spilling over into family life and putting relationships under strain, according to a new report.
A small-scale study examined the lived experience of families (over a range of incomes) against a backdrop of austerity. It looked at the various impacts of austerity on family life, and what matters to families and supports them – with a particular focus on family finances and well-being. In addition, an Ipsos MORI poll of over 1,000 parents explored the ways financial pressures are affecting family life.
Category: Reports -
09/04/2013
Birthdays on the breadline
Over half of parents in lower-income groups cannot afford to organise birthday parties for their children, according to the findings of a new survey. An opinion poll was combined with focus group research to give a picture of the financial stress surrounding children's parties for those in poverty.
Category: Reports -
05/04/2013
Family well-being – UK lessons for USA
Policies under the previous Labour governments 'meaningfully improved' children's opportunities in the UK, says a report summarising research into family life in the UK and USA. It warns that the USA, by contrast, is a 'cautionary tale' for free marketers who would remove the social supports from low-income mothers and their children.
The research project was a collaboration between Manchester and Harvard Universities between 2006 and 2012. It studied changes in social cohesion and social capital in the UK and USA, linking the themes of economic inequality, instability and social mobility in family life.Category: Reports -
04/03/2013
Troubled families scheme ‘making good progress’
Good progress is being made in implementing the 'troubled families' programme, according to the coalition government. Figures gathered from local authorities in England show that between April 2012 and January 2013 62,000 families were identified as coming within the scope of the programme, with their names and addresses included in a database. The government's target is to identify and 'turn around' the lives of 120,000 families by 2015.
The figures released by the government have been collated from data submitted by upper-tier local authorities in support of claims for result payments under the programme. They do not constitute official statistics.
Category: Reports -
14/02/2013
£8 billion spent reacting to ‘troubled families’
£8 billion will be spent on reacting to the problems of 'troubled families' in England over the five years to 2015, rather than addressing them proactively, according to an analysis from the Department for Communities and Local Government. The analysis is used to justify the coalition's decision (in December 2011) to spend a further £448 million on its Troubles Families programme.
Category: Reports -
28/01/2013
Public put older people's needs before children
Public opinion prioritises benefits for older people at the expense of families and children, according to a think-tank paper examining attitudes in the United Kingdom, Denmark and France. And it warns that growing inequalities in electoral participation risk further entrenching this position.
Category: Reports -
19/12/2012
‘Troubled Families’: parallels with the past
by John Welshman, Lancaster University
In December 2011, the Prime Minister announced the Government would 'get to grips' with England's alleged 120,000 'most troubled families'. Yet the label is hardly new. Historical investigation indicates striking similarities between today’s focus on ‘troubled families’ and a debate about ‘problem families’ that in fact began in the 1940s. Each of the criticisms of the Government’s current initiative - the way troubled families are defined, the flimsy evidence, the claim there are as many as 120,000 such families, the alleged £9 billion cost to the state and the elision between ‘troubled’ and ‘troubling’ – are part of a debate that has been going since at least the Second World War.
Category: Articles -
29/10/2012
Childcare costs ‘eroding work incentives’
High childcare costs mean that having a full-time job is no longer worthwhile for many second earners in families on middle and low incomes, according to the Resolution think-tank. Its report calls for a major change in the childcare system to ensure work is always worthwhile.
Category: Reports
