Tackling poverty to improve health and resilience

21 March 2019

What’s going on with child poverty?

Child poverty is relative

“Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in the activities, and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or at least widely encouraged or approved, in the societies to which they belong. Their resources are so seriously below those commanded by the average individual or family that they are, in effect, excluded from ordinary patterns, customs and activities.”

Peter Townsend (1979) ‘Poverty in the United Kingdom’

Child poverty - trend since the 1960s

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Compared with the EUSUB TITLE

Who is most at risk of poverty?

Children in single parent families 49%

Children in families with 3+ kids 42%

Children in families with an under-5 35%

Children in families where someone is disabled 36%

Source: DWP (2018) Households Below Average Income, 1994/95 – 2016/17.

Child poverty is policy responsive

• 1.1m children lifted out of poverty by 2010 – half way to 10%• 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 (FACS)• Extra money led to increased spending on fruit and vegetables,

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

Would have hit target in early 2020s

CONTEXT• £40bn a year cuts to

social security by 2021

• Over 50 separate cuts to tax credits & benefits

• Introduction & cuts to universal credit

• PTA, NLW, childcare do not compensate

Why is child poverty rising?

• Rising costs – housing and childcare costs• Low and stagnating wages, slow to rise• Benefit and tax credit cuts - £21bn per year, plus £12bn more• By 2021, £40bn per year less social security spending (IFS)• Around £4bn social security cuts per year still to come• Pensioners protected – yet children more than three times as

likely to be poor than pensioners (SMC figs)• 70% hit families with children• 60% hit working people• Child poverty act abolished

Rising costs and falling incomes• Cost of a child to 18 – minimum £151k or £183k (LP) • £161 per week – more as get older• Couple both full-time on NLW £49 pw short (LPs £74)• Housing and childcare costs rising• Growing poverty gap – on average £60 below line• Extra costs of food in school holidays can push

families from ‘just about managing’ into hardship• Parents skip meals• Issue not just about food – holiday hunger is not an

isolated issue• Indicators of rising child poverty

Today, most poor children live with working parents

In-work poverty (2016/17) - below 60% median (AHC)

1997/98 2016/17

% poor children in working households 49 67

% poor children in workless households 51 33

No. poor children in working households (million) 2.0 2.7

No. poor children in workless households (million) 2.2 1.3

Many working families cannot achieve a no-frills standard of living

35%

28%

15%

11%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Single parent with three children, working fulltime on the minimum wage

Couple with three children, working full timeon the minimum wage

Single parent with two children working fulltime on the median wage

Couple with two children, both working fulltime on the minimum wage

Shortfalls from minimum income standard

Source: Hirsch, D. The cost of a child in 2018. http://cpag.org.uk/content/cost-child-2018

Non-working families face huge shortfallsA single parent with one young child, who is not working, will have an income just 47% of what they need, after housing costs.

By 2021 a non-working couple with three children in an inexpensive private rented home will be £396 a week short of the minimum income standard - receiving just 36% of what they need (compared with 60% and a £224/week shortfall in 2016).

Benefit cap case study• Single mother with two older children, gave birth to twins.• Had been working 16-20 hours per week, but was on a zero-hours contract and received no maternity pay.• One of the babies has health problems which have required several hospital stays.• She does not feel she can go to work while her children are so young, especially given these health problems.• She cannot downsize as she already shares her bedroom with the twins. • Has considered moving to a cheaper area but her children would lose regular contact with their father and

she would lose help from family members. • This family would have received £230 per week in housing benefit towards rent for a small three-bedroom

home. The benefit cap has reduced this to £30 per week – a loss of £200 a week or over £10,400 a year.• The family were initially granted Discretionary Housing Payments by the local authority but have been told

that these are going to run out.

More devastating cuts in 2015

• 4-year freeze - Child benefit, tax credits and universal credit • 2-child limit - tax credits or universal credit – from April 2017• No exception - disabled children or re-partnering• Benefit cap - reduced to £20k a year (£23k in London) - even if can’t work

due to disability or need to care for young children• 93% have children, 73% single parents - 75% has child <5 - 28% <2• Hardest hit - single parents, larger families (3+) and disabled children• Inflation now projected to rise by 35% 2010-20• CB will have lost 23% of its 2010 value by 2020

Universal credit did not escape

• UC did not escape the axe - similar cuts to tax credits reversed• Reductions to work allowances (point UC starts to be withdrawn) means

parents now need to work a thirteen-or fourteen-month year just to protect current income levels

• Originally UC child poverty reducing - 350k, then 150k, now won’t say• UC failing its own terms (simplicity, work incentives, reducing poverty)

The austerity generation: the impact of a decade of cuts on family incomes and poverty

Published November 2017

FAMILIES WITH MORE CHILDREN LOSE MOST

THE TWO-CHILD RULE WILL PUSH 200,000 INTO POVERTY IN LARGER FAMILIES

Effect of two-child limit on family incomes across the population

• Affected families lose more: up to £2,870 a year per 3rd or subsequent child.

FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN LOSE MORE

THE BENEFIT CAP WILL PUSH 100,000 CHILDREN INTO POVERTYEffect of the benefit cap on family incomes across the population

• Affected families lose much more.

• CPAG estimates that single parent families hit by the cap are made worse off by £11,500 a year on average.

THE FREEZE OF CHILDREN’S BENEFITS WILL PUSH 200,000 CHILDREN INTO POVERTYEffect of the freeze of the UC child element and child benefit

KEY FINDINGSFamilies with children lose the most from the cuts.

Groups already at higher risk of poverty lose more than others: single parents, larger families, families with young children, families where someone has a disability.

Cuts reduce the rewards from work and leave working families worse off. Single parents will see lower returns from moving into work because of work allowance cuts.

Cuts to universal credit will push a million more children into poverty than promised and 900,000 into severe poverty. Uprating decisions will push 300,000 more children into poverty and the two-child rule will push 200,000 more children into poverty.

CUTS ARE HIGHLY REGRESSIVE

We’re all in it together?

Why does poverty matter?

Income matters

• Family income has a causal relationship with poor child outcomes• Poorer children have worse:

• Cognitive• social-behavioural and • health outcomes

• This is independent of other factors found to be correlated with child poverty (e.g. household and parental characteristics)

• Most likely mediating factor is parental stress and anxiety

Cooper K & Stewart K (2013) Does money affect children’s outcomes? And update (2017) York: JRF http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/cp/casepaper203.pdf

and https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/does-money-affect-children%E2%80%99s-outcomes

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 – neg. impact relationship with parents, educational orientation, self-worth and risky behaviour (Tomlinson and Walker, 2009)

• Costs £29 billion a year in public spending (CPAG/Hirsch, D, 2013 building on JRF, 2008 ) – if poverty rises 1m will be £35bn

Mechanisms

Two main mechanisms identified:

• ‘Investment’ - parents’ ability to pay for things that help children e.g. healthy diet, quality housing, extracurricular activities (sports, music etc), computers, books, bicycles, trips to museums, tuition etc.

• ‘Family stress’ – living on a low income causes stress for parents and raises the risk of depression and conflict. These in turn affect parenting and negatively affect children.

Family stress model also supported by other studies e.g. - Wickham et al. 2017 showed that moving into poverty had large impacts on mothers’ mental health, which in turn raised the risk of socio-emotional and behavioural difficulties among children.

‘Parents dilute down milk as they can’t afford formula milk’

‘Children are not accessing services and support due to finances – such as parents can’t take them on the bus to appointments, etc.’

‘[I see children with] back-to-back respiratory illnesses, living in overcrowded shared accommodation.’

‘I think that the biggest impact of poverty on the children and parents I encounter is insecurity, inferiority and stress. Through biological and psychological factors these undoubtedly lead to poor health.’

‘Constant concern about finances and housing conditions affects families with children with long-term health conditions; they face difficulty in dealing with treatment as they are preoccupied with other issues’.

Paediatricians quoted in Poverty and child health: Views from the frontline, CPAG and RCPCH 2017

Doctors’ experiences

‘I work in Early Years and the children ask every morning if they can have food, their mood and concentration picks up as soon as they eat.’

‘A lot of the times children will have internet access through the phone of a relative, however, some activities and work are not accessible through these platforms... This then gives children less of an opportunity to develop.’

‘None of our children in poverty access music lessons as there is no way it can be funded by parents or school - I know many who would love to.’

‘Parents are in crisis and not managing their children's emotional or physical needs as they are so stressed about money. The support we need to provide for these families cannot be underestimated.’

Teachers quoted in Child Poverty and Education: A survey of the experiences of NEU members. CPAG and National Education Union, April 2018

Teachers’ experiences

Effect on families with children - housing

• Housing insecurity - rent shortfalls• Shelter - by 2019/20 if LHA freeze not undone, 83% of areas in

England will be unaffordable to LHA claimants• Over 1m households in Britain at risk of homelessness by 2020• Housing condition – affects child health• Increased homelessness• Transient populations

• Bedroom tax• Benefit cap• Shorthold tenancies

• UC – 5-week delay (causing arrears), LHA restrictions, payment direct

Effect on families with children - housing• Orbit HA tenants - feeling trapped in a cycle of short-term firefighting,

endless juggling of money • Despite parents trying to shield children from direct impact of their

financial situation - many pick up on the stress it causes them and recognise money as their parents’ biggest worry

• Parents were more focused on preventing negative consequences and less on planning positive outcomes for their children

• There was a feeling of lack of control in shaping their children’s future

• “It’s like being on a hamster wheel, I keep running but I’m not getting anywhere”

• “I walk 2 miles to save 10p on a loaf of bread”• “I dread the letter for school trips because you’ll miss a bill so they can

go and then you get charged for missing a bill and it ends up costing a fortune.”

What can we do to tackle poverty and improve health and resilience?

Child poverty – what needs to happen?

• Need a broad strategy to end child poverty• Reinstate targets at national and local level• End freezes - restore family benefits – triple lock?• £5 on Child Benefit• Fix UC – so fit for families• Reform sanctions regime• DHPs and LWAS – serious need of reform (guarantee

future, ringfence, reporting duties, clear framework as in Scotland)

• Universal Free School Meals work

What can local authorities do?

• Early years & children’s services• Education & schools• Employment• Health• LA benefits administration• Welfare rights advice• Hunger

Income maximisation is vital!• Take up rates of means-tested benefits are

between 56% (JSA) and 86% (child tax credit).

• Many people at foodbanks are there because of a delay or other benefits problem e.g. sanction.

• Benefits checks and welfare rights advice have huge returns: • Since 2010 CPAG advisers have restored

£4.2m to clients of 1 foodbank through welfare rights advice.

• Benefits advice delivered in 6 schools in Edinburgh won £350,000 for families in 1 year.

• Benefits check should be a first step in early intervention with families. Source: Evaluation of CPAG advice project in

First Love foodbank, Tower Hamlets

Local welfare assistance best practicesEmergency support• Grants not loans wherever possible• Cash rather than in-kind or vouchers• Well-advertised• Simple & dignified application process• Sufficiently resourced• Appeal rights

Council tax reduction• No minimum payments for the poorest (won’t increase collection anyway)• End bailiff use and aggressive debt recovery for council tax debt• Negotiate with families to keep them out of court• No ‘two-child limit’(See ‘Still too poor to pay’, CPAG and Zacchaeus 2000 Trust, 2017)

Discretionary housing payments• Offer as much security to families as possible on duration of payments

Schools, extended schools & early years

• High quality early childhood education & care

• Promote take-up of free early years entitlements – where paid for, look at payment processes

• Address childcare needs of parents of children with special needs

• Sure Start Children’s Centres – protect and revive

• Extended schools – breakfast, after school and holiday childcare (not child feeding stations) – work-friendly hours

• Equal access to enriching activities

• Free School Meals – extend to universal where possible

• Beware ‘voluntary’ parental contributions & charges for materials and activities

Examine & reduce the cost of the school day• Uniform• Sports kit• Trips• Equipment• Food• Clubs• Fun activities

Poverty and schools

Breakfast, after-school & holiday clubs

• Improve attainment, help working parents, include healthy food

• Available to all children & non-stigmatised

• Free, at least for low-income families

Extended schools not feeding stations for the poor

• Parents – valued activities not association with food element• Pressure, guilt, lack of confidence• Cost pressures for activities and clothes & no FSMs in hols• Hard to find or afford holiday childcare (waiting lists, teenagers,

special needs, unhelpful hours)• Wanted free, healthy meals within existing provision• Extended schools known and trusted – enriching activities• Improve attainment, soc. inclusive, food integral part of service• Need comprehensive extended school services, not child feeding

stations for ‘the poor’

Our reports – Unfinished Business, Cost of the school day

Support parental employment

• It takes at least 1.5 workers for average family to escape poverty

• Use leverage with local employers – living wage but not living hours

• Training programmes tailored to needs of local job market

• Look beyond entry-level work to in-work progression

Become a Living Wage employer

Or visit https://www.livingwage.org.uk/

NB it’s about more than pay:

• Adequate and reliable hours

• Predictable shifts

• Job security

Policies to focus on

• Advice – welfare rights advice is early intervention • Brings cash into local economy• Support with UC• Good use of DHPs and don’t pass on 10% CT cut• Local Welfare Assistance Schemes• Provide local support for parental employment • Debt and credit advice• Housing and homelessness prevention – local solutions• Child mental health services – prioritise and develop• Community transport – free for children & young people?• Unlock sports facilities and community assets• Green spaces – community orchards – community growing• Food poverty - food deserts & food banks

More policies to focus on

• Council tax reductions schemes - good use of DHPs • Debt and credit advice• Housing quality and homelessness prevention – local

solutions• Change of tenancy arrangements – refurbishment,

furniture, UC friendly dates• Child mental health services – prioritise and develop• Community transport – free for children & young people?• Unlock sports facilities and community assets –

discounted/free sessions• Libraries• Planning – no fast food near schools?• Green spaces – community growing

The end