Poverty forecast

  • 13/03/2012

    Welfare reforms could push 250,000 children deeper into poverty

    The government’s new Universal Credit will hit poorer working mums the hardest, according to a report by the charity Save the Children. The report, Ending Child Poverty: Ensuring Universal Credit Supports Working Mums, argues that the potential impact of the new welfare system, which is due to replace tax credits and most benefits from 2013, risks making life harder for some families.

    It identifies three main areas of concern:

    insufficient earnings disregards for working mothers lack of support for childcare costs Universal Credit payments will be withdrawn too quickly.

    Without changes in these areas, it argues, the scheme’s aims of making work pay by supporting parents into work and of reducing child poverty could be undermined. 

    Subjects: Universal credit, Benefits, Welfare system, Poverty forecast, Work skills, Government policy
    Category: News stories
  • 08/03/2012

    Coalition ministers clash over child poverty

    In a speech to the think-tank ResPublica, the Children’s Minister Lib Dem MP Sarah Teather argued that ‘those who suggest that income plays no part in poverty are wrong’.

    This appeared directly to contradict an earlier statement by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith (see Iain Duncan Smith rejects benefits as way to tackle poverty) that ‘tackling child poverty by boosting family income through benefits is a narrow approach’.

    Subjects: Government policy, Poverty forecast, Poverty measurement
    Category: News stories
  • 01/03/2012

    ESRC research projects on child poverty identify barriers to mobility

    Current policies are unlikely to meet child poverty targets, according to a summary of research projects by the Economic and Social Research Council, Child Poverty Casts A Long Shadow Over Social Mobility. This ESRC Evidence Briefing, one of a series on social mobility, provides a detailed summary of the findings of a number of current research projects on child poverty. The research consistently identifies significant detrimental outcomes for children living in poverty and key barriers to moving out of poverty.

    Subjects: Poverty forecast, Lone parents, Child poverty, Social mobility, Public services, Government policy
    Category: Reports
  • 01/02/2012

    Austerity measures lead to rise in poverty across European Union

    The 2011 Assessment of Social Inclusion Policy Developments in the EU concludes that during 2011 the financial and economic crisis, together with associated austerity measures, led to an increase in poverty and social exclusion in more than half the member states. The report is the summary of the findings of national reports written by members of the European Union Network of Independent Experts on Social Inclusion assessing the policy developments in their countries during 2011. In the countries where the situation has worsened over the past year, the most frequently cited factors for the worsening situation is a fall in employment rates and a rise in unemployment, or the persistence of an already high level of unemployment. Many experts particularly highlight the poor situation of the young unemployed and the growing proportion of long-term unemployed.

    Subjects: Poverty forecast, Social exclusion, Europe, Unemployment, Inequality
    Category: Reports
  • 01/01/2012

    Intervention in labour markets needed to reduce poverty

    The delivery of New Labour’s anti-poverty goals was hampered by an unwillingness to countenance a wider range of labour market interventions to reduce employers’ reliance on low pay, according to a report by the Smith Institute, From the Poor Law to Welfare to Work: What Have We Learned from a Century of Anti-poverty Policies? The authors, led by David Coats, examined a wide range of studies to determine the long-term effectiveness of strategies, both in the UK and internationally, to reduce poverty and inequality. The cornerstone of the report’s analysis is the contention that while redistribution of income through welfare is essential, it can be only one part of the solution to combating poverty:

    The evidence from more than a century of reform is that lasting reductions in poverty and inequality also demand pre-distribution policies, notably in the labour market (through work and pay).

    Subjects: Poverty forecast, Welfare system, Inequality, International comparisons, Trade unions, Low pay
    Category: Reports
  • 01/12/2011

    Safety nets in European countries remain inadequate

    Social safety nets across the European Union remain far below widely accepted poverty thresholds, including the European Union’s own official measure, finds a new paper from the Institute for the Study of Labour in Bonn, Do Europe’s Minimum Income Schemes Provide Adequate Shelter Against the Economic Crisis and How, If at All, Have Governments Responded?

    The discussion paper examines whether European Union governments improved the capacity of social safety nets during the first phase of the global economic crisis. Many countries had introduced supportive measures, in particular in the form of additional increases in gross minimum income benefits; more generous child benefits had helped to increase the net disposable incomes of families on minimum incomes; and, in a limited number of countries, activation efforts aimed at minimum income recipients had been intensified. But, despite some improvements, the schemes did not provide adequate protection against poverty.

    Subjects: Minimum income level, Poverty forecast, Social policy, Europe
    Category: Reports

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