A paper examined the effects of child poverty on educational attainment in Wales. Although child poverty had been significantly reduced throughout Wales, it still affected more than 1 in 4 children. Disadvantaged children were not enjoying the rate of progress experienced by their more privileged peers.
Source: David Egan, Combating Child Poverty in Wales: Are effective education strategies in place?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Paper | JRF press release
Date: 2007-Dec
A report (by a Conservative Party spokesperson) said that the number of homeless households with children had more than doubled in recent years, from 24,000 in 1997 to more than 64,000 in 2007.
Source: Grant Shapps MP, There's No Place Like Home: How 130,000 children will be homeless this Christmas, Grant Shapps MP (grant@shapps.com)
Links: Report | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Dec
An annual survey found that parents could spend £186,032 on raising a child from birth to the age of 21 – equivalent to £8,859 a year. The cost of raising a child had increased by 33 per cent since the survey began in 2003. Childcare and education (excluding private school fees) remained the biggest expenditures, costing parents £50,538 and £47,310.
Source: Annual Cost of a Child Survey (2007), LV (formerly Liverpool Victoria) (01202 502 346)
Links: LV press release | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Dec
A report by a committee of MPs examined the prospects for public spending up to 2010-11. The efficiency programme for the period covered by the Comprehensive Spending Review was 'stretching and highly ambitious'. It expressed concern that the government might have drawn back from a whole-hearted commitment to meeting its target to halve child poverty by 2010-11.
Source: The 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, First Report (Session 2007-08), HC 55, House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | CPAG press release | NCH press release | FT report
Date: 2007-Dec
The government announced a comprehensive Children's Plan, designed to improve pupils' educational attainment, health, and happiness. The Plan set targets for 2020 for improving the skills children had at the start of both primary and secondary school, reducing obesity, eradicating child poverty, and 'significantly reducing' the number of children convicted of criminal offences. By 2020, schools would be expected to have 90 per cent of children 'developing well' across all areas of the early years foundation stage by age 5, and reading at or above expected levels in English and maths by age 11. £225 million would be provided to build or upgrade 3,500 playgrounds and set up 30 new supervised adventure playgrounds. The plan outlined a series of reviews and consultations, including: a review of the impact of the commercial world on children's well-being; a review of sex and relationship education; an action plan in 2008 to tackle housing overcrowding; a youth alcohol action plan and drugs strategy in spring 2008; and a children's workforce action plan early in 2008.
Source: The Children's Plan: Building brighter futures, Cm 7280, Department for Children, Schools and Families, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Hansard | DCSF press release | Childrens Society press release | NCH press release | CPAG press release | Daycare Trust press release | 4Children press release | CWDC press release | PSLA press release | Play England press release | IOSH press release | YJB press release | EDCM press release | Rainer press release | FPLD press release | Relate press release | NASUWT press release | ASCL press release | NGA press release | PAT press release | GTCE press release | SSAT press release | Primary Review press release | MHF press release | Addaction press release | DEF press release | SPUC press release | IPPR press release | CBI press release | IOD press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Telegraph report (1) | Telegraph report (2) | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | FT report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Community Care report | New Start report | Socialist Worker report
Date: 2007-Dec
A report said that three-quarters of secondary school parents, and two-thirds of primary school parents, found it difficult to meet the costs of items such as school uniforms and school trips. Only one-quarter of families thought that their school made it clear that low-income families could be helped with, or exempted from, many costs.
Source: Adding Up: The range and impact of school costs on families, Citizens Advice (020 7833 2181) and others
Date: 2007-Nov
An article criticized the argument that the failure to meet the government's target for reducing child poverty was partly due to its success in generating economic growth. This argument missed wider problems embedded in recent trends in the household income distribution: for example, inequality measures sensitive to the distribution of income among those on low incomes suggested that the experience of those who remained poor might have worsened.
Source: Alvaro Angeriz and Shanti Chakravarty, 'Changing patterns of UK poverty, 1997-2004', Cambridge Journal of Economics, Volume 31 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Nov
A paper examined the impact of the working families tax credit (WFTC) on the numbers of lone-parent families, and on a range of outcomes for mothers and children. There was no significant impact on family structure. WFTC was found to reduce the spike of 'high malaise' co-incident with the transition into lone parenthood, but to have no longer-term effects. There were significant improvements among adolescent children in self-esteem, unhappiness, and in truanting, smoking, and numbers planning to leave school at age 16.
Source: Paul Gregg, Susan Harkness and Sarah Smith, Welfare Reform and Lone Parents in the UK, Working Paper 07/182, Centre for Market and Public Organisation/University of Bristol (0117 954 6943)
Links: Working paper
Date: 2007-Nov
A think-tank report examined how government, families, and communities could nurture a healthy, well-educated, ambitious, and socially cohesive population. The essays looked at a range of issues: the need to fully implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the right of the child to be protected from assault in the home; how to improve the tax and welfare system to lift children out of poverty; how social care could meet the needs of children from various backgrounds; and how to improve the environment in which children interacted and played.
Source: Carolyne Willow (ed.), Advancing Opportunity: Children, Human Rights and Social Justice, Smith Institute (020 7592 3618)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Nov
A new book examined the impact of neighbourhood conditions on family life, and explored the prospects for families from the point of view of equality, integration, schools, work, community, regeneration, and public services.
Source: Anne Power, City Survivors: Bringing up children in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary | LSE press release
Date: 2007-Nov
A report said that children living in poverty were more likely to suffer health and behavioural problems, get mixed up in street gangs, and experience bullying at school. Although children in deprived areas experienced more acute forms of poverty, those in more affluent neighbourhoods were more aware of their relative poverty, because middle-class parents had higher aspirations for their children.
Source: Sarah Gorin, Claire Dyson, Carol-Ann Hooper and Christie Cabral, Living with Hardship 24/7: The diverse experiences of families in poverty in England, Frank Buttle Trust (020 7828 7311)
Links: Report | Summary | NSPCC press release | Poverty article | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Nov
A new book summarized the results of the national evaluation of Sure Start programmes. It examined the nature of the communities in which the programmes were situated, and how they changed over time; the early effects on children and families; and identified the specific features that helped to determine whether or not individual programmes benefited children and families.
Source: Jay Belsky, Jacqueline Barnes and Edward Melhuish (eds.), The National Evaluation of Sure Start: Does area-based early intervention work?, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Nov
A study examined the extent to which poverty affected younger children's experience of school, and looked at life in primary schools in Northern Ireland from a child-centred perspective. How most children experienced school was determined by the level of disadvantage they faced. Poorer children in the study accepted that they were not going to get the same quality of schooling, or the same outcomes, as better-off children. Children and parents identified the main costs of school as uniform (including shoes), lunches, and school trips.
Source: Goretti Horgan, The Impact of Poverty on Young Children's Experience of School, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings | JRF press release | Ulster University press release | BBC report
Date: 2007-Nov
An article examined the reasons why children from poorer backgrounds did not, on average, do as well academically at school as those from more advantaged backgrounds. The family, income, and material resources were highly significant, although schools also played an important role.
Source: Anne West, 'Poverty and educational achievement: why do children from low-income families tend to do less well at school?', Benefits, Volume 15 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Nov
The government announced a new payment of £190 to expectant mothers to help them during the last weeks of pregnancy. The one-off payment, known as the health in pregnancy grant, would be available (from April 2009) to every woman from the 25th week of pregnancy, once they had had the appropriate health advice from a health professional such as their midwife.
Source: Press release 14 November 2007, HM Revenue & Customs (020 7438 6420)
Links: HMRC press release | BBC report
Date: 2007-Nov
A paper examined the fertility effect of welfare reforms (including working families tax credit) introduced in 1999, which substantially increased support for poorer families with children. The reforms raised the probability of birth among women in couples by around 10 per cent. In line with previous work, the effect was greatest for first births.
Source: Mike Brewer, Anita Ratcliffe and Sarah Smith, Does Welfare Reform Affect Fertility? Evidence from the UK, Working Paper 07/177, Centre for Market and Public Organisation/University of Bristol (0117 954 6943)
Links: Working paper
Date: 2007-Oct
The government announced the creation of a new cross-departmental Child Poverty Unit. The new unit would involve officials from the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (together with a secondee from the Barnardo's charity). It would work closely with the Treasury, local government, and other government agencies; and would provide a single point of contact on child poverty issues.
Source: Press release 29 October 2007, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: DWP press release | Speech | Barnardos press release | CPAG press release | London Child Poverty Commission press release | ATL press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Children Now report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Oct
The government published the 2008-09 rates and allowances for income tax, national insurance contributions, working and child tax credits, child benefit/guardian's allowance, and state pension and pension credit. Rates and allowances were increased in line with inflation.
Source: Press release 18 October 2007, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: DWP press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report
Date: 2007-Oct
The 2007 Pre-Budget Report set out three indicators of progress towards the government's target to halve child poverty by 2010-11. These were: the number of children in absolute low-income households (whether the poorest families were seeing their income rise in real terms); the number of children in relative low-income households (the extent to which incomes of the poorest families were keeping pace with the rising incomes of the population); and the number of children in relative low-income households and in material deprivation (whether families with children had high unavoidable costs, such as housing, which could adversely impact on living standards and leave people with low disposable income, even if income was above the 60 per cent median line).
Source: PSA Delivery Agreement 9: Halve the number of children in poverty by 2010-11, on the way to eradicating child poverty by 2020, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558)
Links: PSA
Date: 2007-Oct
The government announced (in its 2007 Pre-Budget Report) changes to the system of income 'disregards' for parents in receipt of child maintenance. In addition child tax credit would be increased by £25 per year above inflation in 2008 and again in 2010. The government said that around 100,000 children would be lifted out of poverty as a result by 2010.
Source: Meeting the Aspirations of the British People: 2007 Pre-Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review, Cm 7227, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Summary | Hansard | HMT press releases | DWP press release | CPAG press release | Barnardos press release | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Oct
A study analysed the impact of child tax credit and working tax credit on the labour market participation and working hours of women with children; and it explored the reasons for non-take-up of these tax credits. The employment rate of mothers in couple families (with partners) who were getting CTC was 8 percentage points lower, on average, than that of comparable non-recipients. For lone parents it was around 11 percentage points lower.
Source: Yekaterina Chzhen and Sue Middleton, The Impact of Tax Credits on Mothers' Employment, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings
Date: 2007-Oct
An article examined the socio-economic circumstances faced by families supporting a child at risk of disability, and the extent to which disability was associated with hardship. Families supporting a child at risk of disability were significantly more disadvantaged across a wide range of indicators of socio-economic position. The hardship experienced by these families was only partly accounted for by between group differences in income, debt, and savings. Children who were already at risk of disability as a result of a range of physical and cognitive impairments were more likely than other children to live under conditions that impeded development, increased the risk of poor health and (additional) disability, and increase the risk of social exclusion.
Source: Eric Emerson and Chris Hatton, 'The socio-economic circumstances of children at risk of disability in Britain', Disability & Society, Volume 22 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Oct
A report examined progress on tackling child poverty and promoting the well-being and social inclusion of children in the United Kingdom.
Source: Jonathan Bradshaw and Fran Bennett, Tackling Child Poverty and Promoting the Social Inclusion of Children: United Kingdom, European Commission (empl-inclusion@ec.europa.eu)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Oct
An article examined whether the strategies chosen by three different countries to support children were in fact the most effective. It explored the distributional effects (and, in particular, the effect on child poverty) of budget-neutral alternatives. The results showed that three factors – the level of spending, its structure, and its impact in a particular national context – affected the outcomes to varying degrees.
Source: Horacio Levy, Christine Lietz and Holly Sutherland, 'Swapping policies: alternative tax-benefit strategies to support children in Austria, Spain and the UK', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 36 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Oct
A trade union report said that child poverty cost £600 per year for each person in the United Kingdom. Unless an extra £4 billion were spent in either the 2008 or 2009 Budgets, it seemed likely that a once-in-a-generation chance to end child poverty would have been missed. The government could find this money by closing the tax loophole that allowed many of the super-rich to avoid tax by closing non-domiciliary status.
Source: Cutting the Costs of Child Poverty, Trades Union Congress (020 7467 1294)
Links: Report | TUC press release | ECP press release
Date: 2007-Sep
A report said that children from low-income households were up to nine months behind their peers in educational achievement before they even started school, and were as much as two years behind their peers by the age of 14.
Source: Donald Hirsch, Chicken and Egg: Child poverty and educational inequalities, Child Poverty Action Group (020 7837 7979)
Links: Report | CPAG press release | ATL press release | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Sep
A report said that Sure Start children's centres could be effective in delivering child and family services in England: but they needed to gear up their efforts to help parents overcome practical and other barriers to employment, and to bring about lasting change in their communities.
Source: Margaret Lochrie, Children's Centres: Ensuring that families most in need benefit, Capacity (020 8977 1688) and Esm?e Fairbairn Foundation
Links: Report | Summary | Capacity press release
Date: 2007-Sep
A survey of the attitudes of children aged 7-16 to poverty (conducted by a campaign group) found that nearly half thought that missing out on school trips or not having the correct school uniform were the most telling indicators of being poor.
Source: Press release 19 September 2007, Dare to Care (0800 284533)
Links: Dare to Care press release | Telegraph report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Sep
A series of linked studies examined the experiences and attitudes of children from different backgrounds, as part of a programme of research into the links between education and poverty. Children in poverty faced greatly reduced educational prospects and future life chances. Children were aware of such outcomes from an early age, and their own stereotyping reinforced these differences. To break this cycle, it would be necessary to address the attitudes and experiences that lay behind social differences in education.
Source: Donald Hirsch, Experiences of Poverty and Educational Disadvantage, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241) | Mary Kellett and Aqsa Dar, Children Researching Links Between Poverty and Literacy, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033) | Carlo Raffo et al., Education and Poverty A critical review of theory, policy and practice, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation | Liz Sutton, Noel Smith, Chris Dearden and Sue Middleton, A Child's-eye View of Social Difference, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation | Felicity Wikeley, Kate Bullock, Yolande Muschamp and Tess Ridge, Educational Relationships Outside School: Why access is important, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation | Jo Frankham, Deon Edwards-Kerr, Neil Humphrey and Lorna Roberts, School Exclusions: Learning partnerships outside mainstream education, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation | Pat Thomson and Lisa Russell, Mapping the Alternatives to Permanent Exclusion, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Hirsch (overview report) | Kellett | Findings | Raffo | Findings | Sutton | Findings | Wikeley | Findings | Frankham | Findings | Thomson | Findings | JRF press release | Bath University press release | Community Care report | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Sep
A report said that the homes in which children were brought up, their parents' jobs, and their family's income, all had a huge impact on their future prospects. Before a child reached secondary school, it was possible to predict how likely they were to struggle financially and socially as an adult, turn to drugs and alcohol, be obese, suffer long-term depression, or no qualifications.
Source: Leon Feinstein, Barbara Hearn and Zoe Renton with Caroline Abrahams and Mary MacLeod, Reducing Inequalities: Realising the Talents of All, National Children's Bureau (020 7843 6029), Family and Parenting Institute, and Institute of Education
Links: NCB press release | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Sep
An interim report set out the key issues that needed to be tackled in order to reduce the high levels of child poverty in London.
Source: London Child Poverty Commission, Interim Report, Greater London Authority (info@londonchildpoverty.org.uk)
Links: Report | Summary | LCPC press release | Mayor of London press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2007-Sep
The government announced that from April 2009 expectant mothers in England would receive a one-off payment from their 29th week of pregnancy to encourage them to eat well. The 'health in pregnancy grant' would be paid in addition to existing 'healthy start' vouchers.
Source: Speech by Alan Johnson MP (Secretary of State for Health), 12 September 2007
Links: Text of speech | BBC report | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Sep
The government announced details of a grant of more than £4 billion (for the period 2008-2011) for children's centres, early years education, and childcare. The money would go towards: providing a Sure Start children's centre in every community by 2010; outreach work to reach the most disadvantaged families; training and support for the early years workforce; ensuring that there were sufficient childcare places in each local authority; ensuring that every nursery and children's centre had a graduate to lead children's learning and development.
Source: Press release 2 August 2007, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0870 000 2288)
Links: DCSF press release | Sure Start press release | CPAG press release | EDCM press release | NDNA press release | Daycare Trust press release | PSLA press release | Guardian report | Community Care report | Children Now report
Date: 2007-Aug
A survey found that the costs of paying for a 'free' state school education were proving too high for 3 out of 4 parents. Spiralling costs for school uniforms coupled with demands for money for school trips, photographs, and even books could add up to more than £1,000 per year.
Source: Press release 29 August 2007, Citizens Advice (020 7833 2181)
Links: Citizens Advice press release
Date: 2007-Aug
A report said that almost all families with disabled children were suffering from financial difficulties.
Source: Disabled Children and Child Poverty, Every Disabled Child Matters (020 7843 6448)
Links: Report | EDCM press release | Conservative Party press release | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Aug
A paper examined whether and how socio-economic status was associated with children?s behavioural development. Taken together, differences in the home environment could explain up to half of the social gradients in child behaviours.
Source: Carol Propper and John Rigg, Socio-Economic Status and Child Behaviour: Evidence from a contemporary UK cohort, CASEpaper 125, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion/London School of Economics (020 7955 6679)
Links: Paper
Date: 2007-Aug
A paper examined the effects of recent welfare reforms in the United States of America and United Kingdom on the well-being of children in low-income families, looking specifically at the effects on poverty, family expenditures, and child health and development.
Source: Jane Waldfogel, Welfare Reforms and Child Well-Being in the US and UK, CASEpaper 126, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion/London School of Economics (020 7955 6679)
Date: 2007-Aug
An article presented empirical findings from a qualitative, longitudinal study of low-income working family life. It explored the experiences and perceptions of a group of children living in low-income, working, lone-mother households.
Source: Tess Ridge, 'It's a family affair: low-income children's perspectives on maternal work', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 36 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Jul
The Welsh Assembly government published proposals for extra legislative powers to enable it to improve the welfare of children and young people in Wales. It said a more child-centred approach could lead to free childcare for two-year-olds in greatest need, and top-up payments to child trust fund accounts of children in Wales. There would be a duty on public bodies to demonstrate how they were contributing to ending child poverty.
Source: National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence)(No.3) Order 2007, Draft Statutory Instrument, Welsh Assembly Government (0845 010 5500)
Links: Draft Order | Explanatory memorandum
Date: 2007-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs said that government plans for a network of Sure Start children's centres in every community in England by 2010 might be at risk, because of a shortage of trained staff and doubts over local authorities' capacity to deliver them. Only one-third of Sure Start centres were pro-actively seeking out 'hard-to-reach' families.
Source: Sure Start Children's Centres, Thirty-eighth Report (Session 2006-07), HC 261, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Jul
A report examined the part that children?s centres could play in improving access to services for the most disadvantaged children under 5 and their families living in rural areas.
Source: Janet Williams, Developing Children?s Centres in Rural Areas, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jul
A report said that annual public expenditure per child in Northern Ireland was £287 – compared to £513 in Scotland, £429 in Wales, and £402 in England.
Source: Angela McGowan et al., An Analysis of Public Expenditure on Children in Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (028 9031 1616) and Northern Ireland Executive
Links: Report | Summary | NICCY press release | CiNI press release
Date: 2007-Jul
A journal special issue examined the issues facing the new Prime Minister (Gordon Brown MP) on child poverty and deprivation. The contributors urged him to place tackling child poverty and redressing inequalities at the forefront of the government?s agenda.
Source: Poverty, Issue 127 Summer 2007
Links: CPAG press release
Date: 2007-Jun
Researchers (drawing on the Millennium Cohort Study) calculated that 26 per cent of those children aged 3 surveyed between 2003 and 2005 were living in poverty. 72 per cent of those with lone parents were growing up in poverty, and around 67-68 per cent of those living in Pakistani and Bangladeshi families.
Source: Kirstine Hansen and Heather Joshi (eds.), Millennium Cohort Study Second Survey: A User?s Guide to Initial Findings, Centre for Longitudinal Studies/University of London (020 7612 6875)
Links: Report | CLS Briefings | CLS press release
Date: 2007-Jun
A report said that a total of 1.3 million children were living in severe poverty - more than 1 in 10 children. Families in severe poverty had an average of only £7,000 each year to live on after housing costs.
Source: Monica Magadi and Sue Middleton, Severe Child Poverty in the UK, Save the Children (020 7703 5400)
Links: Report | Summary | SCF press release | EDCM press release | FT report
Date: 2007-Jun
A report examined the policy and practice issues that arose from the operation of Sure Start local programmes in areas where there were significant black and minority ethnic populations. Experiences and practice varied widely. SSLPs that were successful understood and worked closely with local community organizations. Some SSLPs had been discouraged from pursuing relationships with certain minority groups and abandoned the attempt, effectively excluding some already very marginalized communities.
Source: Gary Craig et al., Sure Start and Black and Minority Ethnic Populations, Research Report NESS/2007/FR/020, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2007-Jun
A report said that the level of satisfaction by parents with the services provided by Sure Start children's centres was 'very high'. Learning and socializing were seen as the main benefits to children of attending the centres. Suggestions for improvement frequently related to: changing or extending the times when provision was available (particularly at ?non-core? times such as evenings and weekends), and requests for more courses and training opportunities. More childcare was also requested, especially for a broader range of age groups.
Source: Kate Ridley-Moy, Sure Start Children?s Centres Parental Satisfaction Survey: Report and Annexes 2007, Research Report RW108, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jun
A report called for greater investment in toy libraries to help families on low incomes and children with disabilities. It said that toy libraries should be an integral part of Sure Start children?s centres and schools.
Source: Toy Libraries: Their benefits for children, families and communities, Capacity (020 8977 1688)
Links: Capacity press release
Date: 2007-Jun
An article used the 2001 Census to investigate children's life circumstances. Approximately one-third of all children were experiencing two or more markers of disadvantage, such as overcrowded housing, long-term illness, or living in a household with no adults in paid employment. Around 15 per cent of children experienced two or more indicators of advantage, such as living with adults in high-status, well-paid jobs, or in households with access to two or more cars.
Source: Danny Dorling, Ben Wheeler, Mary Shaw and Richard Mitchell, 'Counting the 21st century children of Britain: the extent of advantage and disadvantage', Twenty-first Century Society, Volume 2 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Jun
A report examined variations in the way Sure Start local programmes were implemented (their proficiency) and in their impact on the children and parents (their effectiveness). Proficient and effective SSLPs took a holistic approach to implementing the Sure Start vision: they built on the strengths of inherited provision, and were creative in improving and setting up services.
Source: Angela Anning, Jane Stuart, Michelle Nicholls, Joanna Goldthorpe and Anita Morley, Understanding Variations in Effectiveness amongst Sure Start Local Programmes, Research Report NESS/2007/FR/024, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2007-Jun
A report gave the interim findings from an official review of families at risk. It said that the government was failing to meet the needs of the 140,000 families facing 'complex and multiple problems' - including unemployment, debt, crime, and mental and physical health problems.
Source: Reaching Out: Think Family - Analysis and themes from the Families At Risk Review, Cabinet Office (020 7261 8527)
Links: Report | Cabinet Office press release | NCH press release | Children Now report | Regeneration & Renewal report
Date: 2007-Jun
A report examined changes in the characteristics of Sure Start local programme areas in rounds 1 to 4. Over the five-year period, improvements in SSLP areas were detected, and often the level of change was significantly greater than that seen in England as a whole. However, few of these changes could be linked in a straightforward way to Sure Start activities.
Source: Jacqueline Barnes et al., Changes in the Characteristics of SSLP Areas Between 2000/01 and 2004/05, Research Report NESS/2007/FR/021, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2007-Jun
An article examined the perceptions of statutory-service providers about their experience of working with Sure Start professionals. Although interviewees welcomed the additional input provided by Sure Start for the most vulnerable families, a number of tensions arose over key divergences between the philosophical positions of statutory providers and Sure Start. The most important tension was over Sure Start's philosophy of targeting resources on an entire geographical area. This was seen as antithetical to statutory providers? case-by-case approach, and raised questions about access and equity for families living outside Sure Start's boundaries. Sure Start's concentration on young children, and the time-limited nature of their services and activities, frustrated statutory providers who had a broader family focus and a longer-term perspective. The perceived under-resourcing of statutory services in comparison to Sure Start, and statutory providers? responsibility for 'selling' Sure Start services, strained a sense of equality between agencies and professionals, and undermined a sense of a shared agenda.
Source: Alison Edgley and Mark Avis, 'The perceptions of statutory service providers of a local Sure Start programme: a shared agenda?', Health and Social Care in the Community,Volume 15 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Jun
A think-tank report said that the government would miss its target of halving child poverty by 2010-11. The tax credit and benefit strategy 'brutally discriminated' against two-parent families. Half of all poor children were in working families, despite the government?s belief that work was the best route out of poverty.
Source: Frank Field MP and Ben Cackett, Welfare Isn?t Working: Child Poverty, Reform (020 7799 6699)
Links: Report | Reform press release | OPF press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2007-Jun
Researchers (drawing on the Millennium Cohort Study) said that many children from disadvantaged backgrounds were already up to a year behind more privileged children in educational terms by the age of 3.
Source: Kirstine Hansen and Heather Joshi (eds.), Millennium Cohort Study Second Survey: A User?s Guide to Initial Findings, Centre for Longitudinal Studies/University of London (020 7612 6875)
Links: Report | CLS Briefings | CLS press release | CPAG press release | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Jun
A report said that without an additional investment of £3.8 billion the government would miss its target to halve child poverty by 2010 by nearly 1 million children.
Source: Neera Sharma with Donald Hirsch, It Doesn?t Happen Here: The reality of child poverty in the UK, Barnardo?s (01268 520224)
Links: Report | Barnardo's press release | NCH press release | TUC press release | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-May
A report said that children living in poverty in Scotland were being denied access to basic services such as swimming pools, youth clubs, dentists, and local shops. Even when a service was 'free', children were denied access because they could not afford the travel, equipment, or something to eat while they were out.
Source: Fiona Wager et al., Serving Children? The impact of poverty on children's experiences of public, private and voluntary services, Glasgow Centre for the Child & Society/Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde (0141 3305923)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-May
A new book presented findings from studies evaluating Sure Start programmes in north-east England.
Source: Nigel Malin and Gillian Morrow, Evaluating Sure Start, Whiting and Birch (020 8244 2421)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-May
A report said that 35,000 children in Northern Ireland would have to be rescued from poverty in the space of three years if the government were to meet the target of halving child poverty by 2010.
Source: Alex Tennant and Marina Monteith, A 2020 Vision: Ending child poverty in Northern Ireland - Annual Child Poverty Report 2007, Save the Children (020 7703 5400)
Links: Report | Press Association report
Date: 2007-May
The government launched a £7 million early-intervention pilot scheme, initially aimed at 1,000 families in 10 areas. First-time mothers - identified from as early as 16 weeks after conception - would be given intensive weekly support from midwives and health visitors until the child reached the age of 2. The 'Nurse Family Partnership programme' was designed to help break the cycle of social exclusion, deprivation, and associated substance abuse or criminality.
Source: Press release 16 May 2007, 10 Downing Street (020 7270 1234)
Links: Downing St press release | Crime Concern press release | Guardian report | Guardian briefing
Date: 2007-May
A report presented findings from the 2005 Families and Children Study (FACS). In 2005 a quarter of families with children were lone-parent families: these families were almost four times as likely as couple families to belong to the lowest income quintile before housing costs. 1 in 10 of all mothers described their health over the previous 12 months as 'not good'. 4 out of 5 families had at least one parent working 16 or more hours per week. Just over three-quarters of families received either a benefit or a tax credit, excluding child benefit. 7 out of 10 families either owned their property outright or were buying it with a mortgage.
Source: Lorenc Hoxhallari, Anne Conolly and Nick Lyon, Families with Children in Britain: Findings from the 2005 Families and Children Study (FACS), Research Report 424, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2007-May
A report said that there was evidence that, like poverty and low income, ethnic minority grouping was a significant risk factor for poor health outcomes for mothers and babies, as reflected in infant deaths and maternal mortality, lower birth-weight and infant and maternal morbidity.
Source: Hiranthi Jayaweera, Christine Hockley, Margaret Redshaw and Maria Quigley, Demographic and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Ethnic Minority Mothers in England, Centre for Longitudinal Studies/University of London (020 7612 6875)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Apr
The number of children in relative poverty (living in households with income below 60 per cent of the median) rose in 2005-06 for the first time in 6 years - by 100,000 to 2.8 million before housing costs, and by 200,000 to 3.8 million after housing costs.
Source: Households Below Average Income (HBAI) 1994/95-2005/06, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7962 8176)
Links: Report | Statistical press release | Hansard | DWP press release | IFS press release | CPAG press release | Barnardos press release | Daycare Trust press release | DRC press release | EDCM press release | Ekklesia press release | Guardian report | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2007-Mar
The government announced a policy review of families at risk of social exclusion. It published data showing that over 140,000 families were at risk, under five or more indicators of social exclusion. It said that these families needed more family-tailored support packages at 'critical moments'. The indicators included: living in a workless household; living in bad housing; parents having no qualifications; mother with mental health problems; and family income below 60 per cent of the median.
Source: Families At-Risk: Background on families with multiple disadvantages, Social Exclusion Task Force/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1234)
Links: Report | Cabinet Office press release | Regeneration & Renewal report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Mar
An article drew on a government-commissioned study to examine the concept of 'social exclusion'; its meaning for children; the aims of government policy; and the specific impact of government policy on vulnerable families and children in need. Although progress had been made, there were still major areas of concern.
Source: Ann Buchanan, 'Including the socially excluded: the impact of government policy on vulnerable families and children in need', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 37 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Mar
A paper examined the relationship between child poverty and the employment status of parents, and discussed possible policy directions for developed countries. In nearly all countries child poverty rates were significantly higher for jobless families than for families with at least one parent in employment; in single-earner families compare to two-earner families; and in sole-parent households compared to two-parent households. The United Kingdom had a tax and transfer system which was more effective than average: but as the level of poverty before taxes and transfers was high, so was its post-tax transfer level of poverty.
Source: Peter Whiteford and Willem Adema, What Works Best in Reducing Child Poverty: A Benefit or Work Strategy?, Working paper 51, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (+33 1 4524 8200)
Links: Paper
Date: 2007-Mar
A report sought to provide a plausible and evidence-based estimate of the number of children in Northern Ireland who lived in relatively low-income households in 1998-99, as a baseline for measuring progress on a pledge to halve child poverty by 2010-11.
Source: Alan McClelland, Estimating Child Poverty in Northern Ireland in 1998/99, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (028 9034 8160)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Mar
The government published draft guidance on school uniform policies. Schools needed to take steps to ensure uniforms were affordable, easily available, and not a barrier for lower-income families.
Source: Guidance to Schools on School Uniform Related Policies: A Consultation, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation document | DfES press release | PAT press release | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2007-Mar
The government published its response to an independent report (by Lisa Harker in November 2006) which made a number of recommendations on what more needed to be done to reduce child poverty. It set out how it would help parents to lift themselves and their children out of poverty through employment. It said that £150 million of government money would be 'refocused' towards greater support for families.
Source: Working for Children, Cm 7067, Department for Work and Pensions, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Hansard | DWP press release | Harker Report | CPAG press release | NCH press release | DRC press release | Regeneration & Renewal report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2007-Mar
The 2007 Budget report proposed above-inflation increases in child benefit, taking it to £20 a week (for the eldest child) by April 2010, compared to £17.45 in April 2006 - an increase of 14.6 per cent.
Source: Budget 2007: Building Britain's long-term future - Prosperity and fairness for families, Cm 342, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Budget Report | Summary | Hansard | HMT press release (1) | HMT press release (2) | CPAG press release | NCH press release | EDCM press release | TUC press release | Citizens Advice press release | IFS press release | IPPR press release | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Guardian report (3) | FT report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Mar
Researchers found consistent and robust evidence of a significant family income gradient in child health, using the subjective general health status measure: but the slope of the gradient was very small, and there was no evidence that the slope increased with child age. Furthermore, there was no evidence of such a gradient with more objective measures, based on nurse examinations and blood test results. Together these results suggested that family income was not a major determinant of child health in England.
Source: Alison Currie, Michael Shields and Stephen Wheatley Price, 'The child health/family income gradient: evidence from England', Journal of Health Economics, Volume 26 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Mar
A study found that the United Kingdom came last for children's well-being in a list of more than 20 wealthy developed countries. The study measured well-being across six categories: material well-being, health and safety, education, family and peer relationships, behaviours and risks, and subjective well-being. The UK came bottom in family and peer relationships, and in behaviour and risks; and was in the bottom third for five of the six dimensions reviewed.
Source: Report Card 7, Child Poverty in Perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries, UNICEF UK (020 7405 5592)
Links: Report | UNICEF press release | OCC press release | CPAG press release | Barnardos press release | CRAE press release | Shelter press release | Parentline Plus press release | Citizenship Foundation press release | CSJ press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Community Care report | Independent report
Date: 2007-Feb
A report used data provided by the Department for Work and Pensions to give an indication of regional levels of poverty, compared to the national level; and of the numbers of children on benefits at local authority and ward level.
Source: Thomas Hirsch and Donald Hirsch, Local Child Poverty Statistics, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report | SCF press release | Community Care report | BBC report
Date: 2007-Jan
A new book examined the nature of the relationship between children, parents, and modern welfare states; and the implications of social policies for children.
Source: Jane Lewis (ed.), Children, Changing Families and Welfare States, Edward Elgar Publishing (01242 226934)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Jan
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions said that the rules on lone parents' benefits might be changed in order to get more back into work earlier. He said that it was not unreasonable to stop income support once the youngest child reached the age of 12, rather than 16 under existing rules.
Source: Speech by John Hutton MP (Secretary of State for Work and Pensions), 30 January 2007
Links: Text of speech | NCH press release | CPAG press release | OPF press release | Parentline Plus press release | Employers for Childcare press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Jan