www.childpovertysolutions.org.uk
Communities First- connecting service providers Ross Chamberlain Child Poverty Solutions Coordinator
What is Child Poverty? – 32% of Children & Young People in Wales live in poverty, in households at 60% of median income or less (DWP: HBAI 2009-10, http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/ p75)
– 14% of Children & Young People in Wales live in severe poverty, in households at 50% of median income or less ( Severe child poverty in Wales http://www.childpovertysolutions.org.uk/UserFiles/file/Severe_Child_Poverty_In_Wales.pdf )
At 60% of Median Income – 2009/10, cash figures are • £256 per week for a lone parent with two dependent children aged 5 and 14; • £346 per week for a couple with two dependent children aged 5 and 14. After income tax, council tax and housing costs have been deducted, where housing costs include rents, mortgage interest
At 50% of Median Income – Wales has a higher proportion of children living in severe poverty than the other UK regions, approx 90,000 children & young people. • Lone parent with two children (5 and 14), £213 / week. • Couple with two children (5 and 14), £288 / week.
– Around two thirds of children in severe poverty in Wales are in workless households. One third are in households where at least one adult works. Work often isn’t enough to escape severe poverty.
But it’s not just about the money…. – Child poverty is a multi faceted issue – EU Definition…..… having resources (material, cultural, social) so limited as to exclude them from the minimum acceptable way of life in the member states in which they live – It is a breach of numerous children’s human rights
Defining Child Poverty? As well as income poverty the Welsh government recognise – Service Poverty, difficulty accessing e.g. housing, health, education, leisure
– Participation Poverty, hard to access opportunities to articulate their interests, and to share in the shaping of the decision-making
Groups at Risk – Lone parent families – Larger families (4+ children) – Families with someone who has a disability or long term illness – Workless and unemployed families – Homeless families and young people
– Families where one adult works part time – Families with mothers who have no qualifications – Migrants and ethnic minorities, including the gypsy and traveller community – Refugees and asylum seekers
Groups at Risk – Children and young people living in low income households – Children and young people living in social housing – Children and young people living in temporary accommodation
– Children and young people NEET – Children and young people who are carers – Children and young people who are in or leaving care – Children and young people with special educational needs
UK child poverty ranking in the OECD – how do we fair ? Source – UNICEF report card 9 http://www.unicef.org.uk/Latest/News/Report-Card-9/
Outcomes for Children….. • It’s not children’s fault! • Well documented implications • • • • •
Mental and physical health Life expectancy, accidents Education, employment Relationships, play & leisure Future opportunities
Outcomes for Children….. Poor children are more likely to : – – – – – – – – –
Be born earlier; Have a lower birth weight; Die in a fire at home (15 X); Die in an accident (5 X); die from unintentional injury (13 x) and 37 times more likely to die from exposure to fire If parents have never worked or are long term unemployed (Department for children, schools and Families, 2007). Become a teenage mother (10 X) Become obese; Be drawn into anti-social behaviour and crime; Leave school early and without qualifications; Die earlier than those from professional backgrounds (Source: Save the Children’s UK Wellbeing report by Jonathan Bradshaw, 2005)
Outcomes for Children….. – mothers with lower levels of educational attainment are less likely to construct an emotionally and cognitively supportive environment for their children. – activities and roles engaged in by mothers effect the cognitive development of their children which endure well into the 5th and 6th decade. – The poorest children are less likely to visit libraries and places of educational interest such as museums. – negative effects on reading skills increase with age as does awareness of performance. humiliation, anxiety and other negative emotions associated with poor reading persist into adulthood. higher paying jobs are blocked to these individuals and the cycle of poverty continues.
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Communit y driv low incom ers of e and deprivatio n
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Children’s Outcomes
Child Poverty Strategy for Wales • 3 Strategic Objectives – Get workless households into work – Improve the quality of work and raise household income for households experiencing ‘in work’ poverty – Close the gaps in Health, Educational and economic outcomes for children and young people, especially the poorest.
Meeting immediate household needs – Patch up
Breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty for children & young people
The Children and Families (Wales) Measure – Provides the legislation to take forward the Welsh Government’s child poverty commitment and to give greater support to families where children may be at risk.
Four parts: – – – –
Part 1: Eradicating Child Poverty Part 2: Child Minding and Day Care Part 3: Integrated Family Support Teams Part 4: Miscellaneous and General (Play and Participation)
The Children & Families (Wales) Measure • The public bodies detailed in the measure have a legislative duty to prepare and publish a strategy for addressing child poverty in Wales. • This duty can discharged on the publication of a Children and Young People’s Plan that includes meaningful contributions from the bodies named. • OR they can publish their own strategy, which is the more sustainable option.
The bodies named in the Measure (a) the Welsh Ministers; (b) a local authority; (c) a Local Health Board; (d) a Welsh fire and rescue authority, (e) a National Park authority in Wales; (f) the Countryside Council for Wales;
(g) the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales; (h) the Public Health Wales National Health Service Trust; (i) the National Museum of Wales; (j) the Arts Council of Wales; (k) the National Library of Wales; (l) the Sports Council for Wales.
13 Broad aims
1. To increase income for households including one or more children with a view to ensuring that, so far as reasonably practicable, there are no households in the relevant income group; 2. Ensuring that, so far as reasonably practicable, children living in households in the relevant income group are not materially deprived; 3. To promote and facilitate paid employment for parents of children; 4. To provide parents of children with the skills necessary for paid employment; 5. To help young persons take advantage of opportunities for employment;
13 Broad aims 6. To support parenting of children 7. To reduce inequalities in educational attainment between children; 8. To help young persons participate effectively in education and training; 9. To reduce inequalities in health between children and between parents of children;
13 Broad aims 10. To reduce inequalities in participation in cultural, sporting and leisure activities between children and between parents of children 11. To help young persons participate effectively and responsibly in the life of their communities. 12. To ensure that all children grow up in decent housing; 13. To ensure that all children grow up in safe and cohesive communities.
Locating Child POverty – Using WIMD: Child Index. – Sets out an all Wales context for several key determinants of poverty for children and young people. – A result of politico-economic historical and current circumstances. Many of these headline issues exist in geographical pockets. – The distribution can inform both national and local strategic approaches in terms of service targeting and programme bending.
WIMD: Child Index, Income Split into quintiles from most to least deprived, the indicators used for the income domain were: – Children in Income Support Households – Children in Pension Credit Households – Children in Income-Based Jobseekers Allowance Households – Children in Tax Credit (Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit) Households below a low income threshold
WIMD: Child Index, Education Split into quintiles from most to least deprived, the indicators used for the education domain were: – Key Stage 2, average point scores – Key Stage 3, average point scores – Key Stage 4, average point scores – Primary School all absence rate – Secondary School all absence rate
WIMD: Child Index, Health Split into quintiles from most to least deprived, the indicators used for the health domain were: – Limiting long-term illness (LLTI) – Singleton low birth weights Mental health issues such as stress and anxiety among children and young people are often missed out of child poverty plans which usually focus mainly on physical health issues.
WIMD: Child Index, Community Safety Split into quintiles from most to least deprived, the indicators used for the community safety domain were: – Police force recorded crime – Youth offenders – Adult offenders – Fire incidence
WIMD: Child Index, Service access Split into quintiles from most to least deprived, the indicators used for the geographical access to services domain were: – Primary schools – Secondary schools – Leisure centres – Public library
Visit the CPS website at www.childpovertysolutions.org.uk Or speak to me to find out more about how CPS can help you. Ross Chamberlain, Child Poverty Solutions Coordinator on 02920 803 273 Thanks for listening