Tackling child poverty

Alison Garnham CEO, Child Poverty Action Group

Peabody Conference: Child poverty – challenges and

policy responses

10 December 2012

Stealing away children’s life chances

Education divide – poorer children 9 months behind (Hirsch D, 2007)

Health divide – socio-economic conditions mean greater risk heart disease, death by stroke, disability, poor mental health (Spencer N, 2008)

Wellbeing divide – negative impact on relationship with parents, educational orientation, low self-worth and risky behaviour (Tomlinson and Walker, 2009)

Costs £25 billion a year in public spending (JRF, 2008)

2012/13

The uprating game

Progress to date

Actual figures and projections:

BHC AHC

Baseline year 98/99: 3.4 million 4.4 million

Latest official figures 10/11: 2.3 million 3.6 million

IFS estimate for 20/21: 3.3 million 4.3 million

Gov’t target for 20/21: 1.3 million* N/A

(* 10% of children based on 2010/11 population count)

Sources: HBAI 1998/99-2010/11; Children and Working-Age poverty from 2010 to 2020, IFS 2010.

Historical Trend – since 1970

Progress made and lessons learned

Largest reductions in child poverty in OECD between mid-1990s and 2008 (Bradshaw 2012)

Child wellbeing improved on 36 out of 48 indicators between 1997 – 2010 (Bradshaw, 2012)

Deprivation levels fell as did money worries extra money led to increased spending on fruit

and vegetables, children’s clothes and books – spending on alcohol and cigarettes fell (Stewart, 2012)

Not just due to income transfers

Parents helped into work, childcare strategy and active labour market policies – worklessness fell until 2008

Lone parent employment rate 45 – 57% (1997-2010) accounts for ¼ of falls in child poverty (Brewer, 2012)

between 1997 and 2010, mothers in couples - 68 – 71%, and fathers in couples - 88.7 - 89.4%

In 2008, before the recession, the employment rate for fathers had been 91%

No. of children failing to get any qualification declined from 35,000 in 1999 to 6,000 in 2010

No. children on FSM getting at least 5 GCSEs rose from 36% to 65% closing attainment gap by one third between 2007 and 2011

Child poverty set to rise

Latest IFS projections show child poverty will rise by 800,000 between 2010 and 2020

Rise of 900,000 children on ‘absolute’ measure Also likely rises in persistent poverty and

deprivation levels After Autumn statement – will now be more

Universal Credit – poverty reducing

Will reduce child poverty by 350,000 compared to current tax and benefit regime

But overwhelmed by other tax and benefit changes, inflation and stagnating wages – child poverty still to rise

No losers at point of introduction? Simple? Makes work pay? Protects vulnerable?

Improves ‘unemployment trap’ – transition to work Still embodies the ‘poverty trap’ – high marginal tax rates,

capital rules, caps on housing costs 65% taper - not much improvement to work incentives.

Influence behavior? (original plan was 55%) IFS preliminary analysis - worse incentives to work and

progress in work for single parents and partners in couples Childcare costs reduced from 80% to 70% Can be fixed – but bad news in the Autumn statement

Policy responses

Early years – 15 hours disadvantaged 2 year olds, and 3-4s

Pupil Premium Child poverty strategy – ‘causes’ Social justice strategy – ‘troubled families’

Pupil premium

Ofsted report (Sept 2012) - real concern funds being used to "plug the gap" in school budgets

Survey of 262 schools - more than half said premium making "little or no difference" to the way they were being managed and operated

Sutton Trust survey (Aug 2012) showed 2-3% of schools using PP for interventions that had a track record of reducing the education gap

28% teachers didn’t know what PP spent on

Social justice strategy – ‘troubled families’?

Disruption? Irresponsibility? Crime? Drug and alcohol abuse? Neighbours from hell?

Evidence-based policy or policy-based evidence? 120,000 families – FACS survey data Criteria: no parent in work, poor quality housing, no

qualifications, low income, cannot afford some food/clothing items, mother mental ill-health, parent longstanding disability or illness

Social justice strategy: ‘These families…can cause serious problems for their local communities through crime and anti-social behaviour’

Workless families where generations have never worked? Can find 15,000 in data (Gregg et al, also Shildrick et al)

Why are children in London poor?

London has the highest rate of child poverty of any English region, with as many poor children as in Scotland and Wales put together.

Thirty-seven per cent (592,000) of all children in London live below the poverty line.

London Child Poverty Commission (2008):

The underlying causes of this entrenched child poverty are surprisingly simple – the employment rate among parents, in particular mothers, is much lower than elsewhere in the country, driven in part by a lack of part-time jobs and flexible childcare, as well as higher housing, childcare and living costs.

What has been happening to child poverty rates in London?

What’s been happening to parental employment rates?

0

5

10

15

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25

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Worklessness among couple households with children 1986-2012

Inner Lon

Outer Lon

S East

What’s been happening to parental employment rates?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Worklessness among couple households with children 1986-2012

Inner Lon

Outer Lon

S East

What’s the size of the parental employment gap in London?

Employment rates in London (%) 2011

Why are parental employment rates still low?

Cost of childcare 24 per cent higher in London. Low levels of part time jobs – key lacks are in

administrative and secretarial occupations. No London premium at lower end of Labour

market – makes part time work difficult. No dedicated cross London parental employment

scheme.

What can Local Authorities do on employment?

Lead by example: advertise all vacancies as available for part time and flexible working.

Use community benefit clauses within procurement arrangements to ensure that companies offer (flexible) jobs to local residents.

Consider developing targeted employment programmes for parents (cf Islington)

Introduce specific targets on parental employment in child poverty strategies.

Prioritise childcare – extended schools.

What else can local authorities do within child poverty strategies?

Invest in Free School Meals.

Target educational attainment gaps.

Benefit take up and advice + support with wide ranging reforms coming in in April. Prioritise families for discretionary support?

Ensure child poverty prioritised across other areas of council – e.g. Health and Wellbeing Boards.

Work with parents, children, voluntary sector to understand local family needs.

Invest in housing stock and tackle poor quality in private rented sector.

Policy responses needed

Investment in the early years (ECEC) – yes Early intervention – yes Pupil Premium – yes, if properly monitored Don’t neglect income – child poverty scandal

worsening Last time child poverty rose on this scale – so did

indicators of multiple deprivation Improve UC – a mixed bag – even in own terms Improve incentives to work and progress in work

– lower taper, improve disregards Local action needed too

What works?

Worth reminding ourselves - what benefits all families, including the ‘squeezed middle’ also benefits poor families – good quality jobs, decent pay levels (living wage), decent Child Benefit, universal childcare, family-friendly jobs, decent insurance benefits, high quality services, affordable housing, affordable transport - poverty prevention

Crisis - not inevitable – it’s what will happen if no action taken to stop it