The children's rights watchdog in Wales published a progress report on the Welsh Government's child poverty strategy. It noted that the child poverty rate in Wales stood at 33 per cent, and had increased over the previous five years.
Source: Child Poverty Strategy Progress Report 2013, Children's Commissioner for Wales
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Oct
An article examined asset-based welfare policies pursued by the Welsh Government, as part of efforts to boost financial inclusion. These efforts had been constrained by both the ideology and austerity programme of the United Kingdom government.
Source: Rajiv Prabhakar, 'Asset-based welfare: financialisation or financial inclusion?', Critical Social Policy, Volume 33 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Oct
A study examined how ethnicity influenced experiences and levels of poverty, the effect of place on experiences of poverty among different ethnic groups, and the factors that affected access to routes out of poverty. The study also looked at the extent to which there were specific issues particular to Wales and made recommendations for policy and practice in Wales.
Source: Duncan Holtom, Ian Bottrill, and Jack Watkins, Poverty and Ethnicity in Wales, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2013-Oct
A report presented the findings of a baseline study into social isolation and loneliness in Wales. It examined how policies and services addressed the issues, and made recommendations for future improvements. Although some progress was being made, there was still significant potential for improvement. There needed to be a more consistent approach to evaluation of local authority (and other) activities aimed at tackling social isolation, supported by guidance from the Welsh Government. Initiatives targeting social isolation needed to be clear about which aspects they were tackling and how they would go about this.
Source: Deborah Fenney, 'Let's Start Assessing Not Assuming': A report about the approaches to tackling social isolation within Welsh local authorities, Welsh Government
Date: 2013-Sep
A report examined the latest data on poverty and exclusion in Wales. Over the three years to 2011-12, 690,000 people (23 per cent) were living in low-income households. Although the total had changed little since the early 2000s, the proportion in working families had risen steadily: 29 per cent of people in 'part-working' families had low household incomes, but only 7 per cent of those in 'full-working' families. 23 per cent of employees earning less than the 'living wage' had low household incomes: but only 3 per cent of those earning more.
Source: Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Wales 2013, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report | JRF press release | BBC report
Date: 2013-Sep
A report examined the impact of changes to the United Kingdom welfare system on people in Wales. Women were more likely than men to be adversely affected, and were expected to lose the most from a number of reforms: in the case of universal credit they would gain the least. Non-working lone parents, of which around 90 per cent were female, were one of the groups that would see the largest income losses. Couples would be worse off if there was a second earner in work. There would be significant impacts on disabled people in Wales, as a result of universal credit, changes to benefit and tax credit indexation, disability living allowance, incapacity benefit, employment and support allowance, and housing benefit.
Source: Analysing the Impact of the UK Government's Welfare Reforms in Wales: Stage 3 Analysis, Welsh Government
Links: Report | Summary | Welsh Government press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-Jul
The Welsh Government published an updated plan for tackling poverty. It said that in view of a lack of resources caused by the coalition government's austerity programme, it would focus on key targets including:
• Improving the educational attainment of children from low-income families.
• Helping more people into jobs, especially in households where no one had a paid job.
• Reducing the number of young people who were not earning or learning.
• Ensuring that all people, regardless of how poor they were or how deprived the area they lived in, had equal and fair access to essential services.
Source: Taking Forward the Tackling Poverty Action Plan, Welsh Government
Links: Plan | Welsh Government press release | Action for Children press release | Bevan Foundation blog post | New Policy Institute blog post | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2)
Date: 2013-Jul
A report examined the potential impact of benefit cuts on disabled people in Wales. It said that disabled people in Wales would be particularly hard hit. It concluded with a set of recommendations for both the United Kingdom and Welsh Governments – as well as public bodies such as local authorities, health boards, and emergency services – to mitigate the negative impact of the changes.
Source: Cap in Hand? The impact of welfare reform on disabled people in Wales, Disability Wales
Links: Report | Report (Welsh) | Disability Wales press release
Date: 2013-Apr
A report examined the effects of the main changes to housing benefit on people in Wales. It called on the Welsh Government, local authorities, and housing associations to work 'proactively and collaboratively' to mitigate the worst effects of the changes on tenants in Wales.
Source: Mitigating the Impact of Changes to Housing Benefit in Wales: Our Recommendations, Cuts Watch Cymru
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Mar
Two studies commissioned by the Welsh Government found that the changes to the United Kingdom benefits system announced prior to the December 2012 Autumn Statement would reduce total benefit and tax credit entitlements in Wales by around £590 million in 2014-15. Additional cuts announced in the Autumn Statement meant that total losses would be even higher than this. Overall, families with children and those from low-to-middle income families would suffer the most from the changes. Reforms to disability living allowance accounted for some of the biggest cuts in Wales.
Source: Analysing the Impact of the UK Government s Welfare Reforms in Wales: Stage 2 Analysis, Welsh Government | Stuart Adam and David Phillips, An Ex-Ante Analysis of the Effects of the UK Government's Welfare Reforms on Labour Supply in Wales, Report R75, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Report | Summary | IFS report | Welsh Government press release | WLGA press release
Date: 2013-Feb
A report provided an overview of child poverty in each local authority area in Wales. In one area of south Wales, 29 per cent of children and young people aged 0-19 lived in relative income poverty.
Source: Ross Chamberlain and Ruth Mullineux (with Helen Cocco and Sara Drysdale), Child Poverty Snapshots: The local picture in Wales, Save the Children
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Jan
The Welsh Government announced that it would provide additional help to individuals facing a cut in their council tax support following the changes announced by the United Kingdom government. An extra £22 million in funding would go to local authorities to help with bills in 2013-14, with the aim of ensuring that those people eligible for council tax support in Wales would continue to receive their full entitlement.
Source: Press release 17 January 2013, Welsh Government
Links: Welsh Government press release | WLGA press release | BBC report | Inside Housing report | Public Finance report
Date: 2013-Jan
