Category Archives: Poverty

71,000 Families Hit by the Two-Child Limit Policy in its First Year – CPAG

DWP statistics published on 28 June 2018 show 71,000 families have lost entitlement to child allowances in tax credits or universal credit in the first year of the ‘two-child  policy’ (1).

Commenting on the figure, Child Poverty Action Group Chief Executive Alison Garnham said:

“Our analysis with IPPR last year found 200,000 children will be pulled into poverty by the two-child limit.  Today’s DWP statistics now show it’s already having a damaging impact – and at a fast pace.  These are struggling families,  most of them in work,  who will lose up to £2,780 a year  –  a huge amount if you’re a parent on low pay.

“An estimated one in six UK children will be living in a family affected by the two-child limit once the policy has had its full impact.  It’s a pernicious, poverty-producing policy. Even when times are tough, parents share family resources equally among their children, but now the government is treating some children as less deserving of support purely because of their order of birth. Having older siblings should not mean that a child misses out on support.

“Sixty Bishops from the Church of England and senior representatives from other Christian, Jewish and Muslim organisations have said the policy should be reconsidered.  We again urge Ministers to review the policy in the interests of family life. “

Notes:

  1. The ‘two-child limit’ for child tax credit and universal credit came into force on 6 April 2017. Families who claim tax credits or universal credit, which have a third or subsequent child born after 6 April 2017, will no longer be able to claim a child element for this child or any future children. The child element is worth up to £2,780 per year (£232 per month) and until the policy came into effect was payable for all children in low- income families to help protect them from poverty. Families who make a new claim for universal credit from 1st February 2019 will only receive the child element for two children per family, even if the children were born before April 2017.
    The DWP statistics, are here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/child-tax-credit-…
    They show 2,900 households have received an exception for a third or subsequent child born on or after 6 April 2017. 2,440 of these received an exception for multiple births, 270 for a child in non-parental care, and 190 for non-consensual conception. To date no households have received the exception for adoption.
  2. Analysis by CPAG and IPPR has found that once universal credit is fully rolled out, the two- child limit will result in up to 200,000 additional children in poverty.
  3. Earlier this year 60 Bishops from the Church of England and senior representatives from other Christian, Jewish and Muslim organisations wrote to The Times urging the Government to rethink the two-child policy. The Church of England and End Child Poverty Coalition’s report on the policy is here.

Press release at http://www.cpag.org.uk/content/71000-families-hit-two-child-limit-policy-its-first-year

July 4, 2018

One million women in poverty have experienced extensive violence and abuse

One in seven of all women in poverty (14%), which is one million women, have faced the most extensive violence and abuse.[1] This is more than twice the rate for women not in poverty (6%), according to a report released today by Agenda, the alliance for women and girls at risk.

Agenda’s report, joining the dots, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, is the first[2] to combine data on women’s experiences of poverty, mental health, life circumstances, and abuse and violence, to paint a picture of how different forms of inequality combine in the lives of women in poverty in England.

According to Agenda, being poor can make women and girls more vulnerable to perpetrators of abuse and prevent them from escaping abusive situations, while the impact of abuse can trap women in poverty.

The combination of experiencing extensive abuse alongside poverty creates a web of adversity in women’s lives. Of women who have experienced extensive abuse and poverty:

  • A third (38%) had attempted suicide, compared with 4% of women in poverty who had not been abused.
  • More than half (55%) had a common mental disorder such as anxiety or depression, compared with 17% of women in poverty who had not been abused
  • One in five (21%) have been homeless, compared with 3% of women in poverty who had not been abused.

Joining the dots also found:

  • Women in poverty are twice as likely as other women to experience almost every form of interpersonal violence and abuse covered in the study.
  • The extent of abuse a woman experiences, as well as the form it takes, is strongly linked to poverty. Women in poverty are much more likely to have the most extensive experiences of abuse and to experience multiple types across their lives.

The charity is calling on the Government to prioritise the provision of support which improves the life chances of women facing this combined disadvantage.

Agenda is recommending:

  • A cross-government approach to improving the life chances of women who face the most extensive abuse, poverty and disadvantage.
  •  ‘Routine enquiry’ (asking women and girls whether they have experienced violence and abuse) becomes standard practice across a range of health and support services and is accompanied by comprehensive support for those who disclose past or present experiences of abuse.
  • Central and local government ensure specialist services providing holistic support are adequately funded and properly commissioned.

Notes

    Agenda is an alliance of more than 60 organisations who have come together to campaign for change for women and girls at risk. We believe society is failing to adequately protect and support women and girls who face the most extensive violence, abuse, trauma and extreme inequality.

    We are calling for systems and services to be redesigned with women and girls at their heart so that they can access the support they need to rebuild their lives and reach their full potential. www.weareagenda.org.

    Joining the Dots, describes the circumstances of women in England who live in poverty, examines the nature and extent of violence and abuse experienced by women in poverty, and profiles the mental health and quality of life of women who experience both poverty and violence and abuse. This report provides a powerful statistical picture of the combined adversity of poverty and extensive violence and abuse in women’s lives.

    Our data source is the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007 (APMS) which has a large representative sample of 7,500 women and men of all ages and is the best available data on rates of mental illness in the general population. APMS also provides rich information about other aspects of people’s lives: including their economic circumstances, social relationships and experiences of sexual and physical abuse, violence and coercive control in childhood or adulthood.

      [1] Extensive abuse is sexual and/or physical abuse and includes women who have experienced extensive coercive control and physical violence from a partner and women who have experienced both physical and sexual violence in both childhood and adulthood

      [2] This is the first study to examine national survey data looking at the links across these areas and using high quality assessments of mental illness

      [3] Hidden Hurt (McManus S, Scott S 2016) hhttp://weareagenda.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Hidden-Hurt-full-report1.pdf

Part of a longer press release at http://weareagenda.org/one-million-women-in-poverty-have-experienced-extensive-violence-and-abuse/

Download from http://weareagenda.org/policy-research/agendas-reports/

October 3, 2016

Gender Matters in Social Security – why we need individual payments of universal credit – Engender – Scotland

Engender has joined a coalition of charities including women’s and equalities organisations, anti-poverty groups and the Scottish Trades Union Congress to release a paper calling on Scotland to use new powers over social security to promote women’s equality and diverge from the damaging UK policy of joint payments of Universal Credit.

The paper argues for the new Scottish Parliament to automatically pay entitlements to Universal Credit individually, rather than to one member of a couple only. The model of household payments would reinforce women’s inequality in society, and undermine equal access to income and financial autonomy. Where women and children are at risk of abuse, household payments would further compromise their safety and reduce their ability to secure safe housing.

Emma Ritch, Executive Director of Engender, which led on the report, said:

‘Scotland has pledged that new powers coming to the Scottish Parliament will be founded on dignity and respect. Offering individual payments is a clear way to honour this pledge. We know that the UK system of offering household payments fails those who need the most support, including women, disabled people, and refugees, and exacerbates existing inequality.

There are multiple reasons for the Scottish Government to diverge from the payments structure of the UK, and very few to support the case for simply replicating the UK system. We hope that Scotland’s new Parliament elected on May 5th will embrace this clear opportunity to set Scotland on a path of equality in social security.’

Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance, a signatory to the report, said:

“It is important that where a couple has a joint award of universal credit, the default position should be that the payment is split to ensure that individuals have access to independent resources.

“This is particularly important for tackling the gendered nature of poverty, and ensuring that women are not trapped in abusive relationships as a result of lack of financial resources.

“We know that women are more likely to be in poverty than men, and women are more dependent on the social security system for their incomes.

“Women can also face significant barriers to entering the labour market, and a lack of independent financial resources would be yet another hurdle for women to overcome.

“New powers for the Scottish Parliament are an opportunity to think about the type of Scotland we want to live in, and take practical steps to achieving this.

“If we are serious about equality, then we must implement split payments as the default”.

Davena Rankin, Chair of the STUC Women’s Committee, said:

“The introduction of a single Universal Credit payment to joint claimants will mean a loss of independent income for women. In an abusive relationship, it is likely that this will be to the detriment of women and children. Financial independence and security is key to gender equality and the STUC Women’s Committee urge the Scottish Government to use their new powers to introduce individual payments to all Universal Credit claimants.”

Scottish Women’s Aid Chief Executive Dr Marsha Scott said:

“The single household payment is a backwards step for women and replicates the very patriarchal values and structures that are the cause and consequence of domestic abuse.

“Research suggests that 89% of all women who are abused by a partner, experience financial abuse as part of domestic abuse so to cut off what is, for many women, their only independent income is clearly shortsighted, unhelpful and dangerous.

“The single household payment will only increase women’s financial dependency and place them at increased risk.”

Blog post at http://www.engender.org.uk/news/blog/gender-matters-in-social-security—why-we-need-individual-payments-of-universal-credit/

Read / download the paper from http://holyrood.engender.org.uk/content/resources/Gender-Matters-in-Social-Security—Individual-Payments-of-Universal-Credit.pdf

April 21, 2016

In Work Poverty: Stories from South London Women – Skills Network

What’s Our Story

What’s Our Story is Skills Network’s social-action work, which comprises community research and campaigning. Our current piece of research is about in-work poverty, particularly women’s and mothers’ experiences of this.

Researchers and media professionals we have encountered have talked to us of their struggle to really access the granular experience, the detailed stories of women experiencing ‘in-work poverty’. They were able to access and analyse quantitative data and policy documents. But the stories were missing. The women in our group saw the importance of what they, and participatory research, carried out by people close to those situations, could bring to our understanding of the experience of in-work poverty.

Here we present some of the stories we found out about in the course of our research.

In Work Poverty: Stories From South London Women 

This report presents the stories of women we spoke to in Lambeth, south London, about their experience of low-pay, insecure work and the phenomenon of ‘in-work poverty’.

Read and download the full report here

The Impacts of In-Work Poverty

Poverty is the difference between living and merely existing. It is not a metric, it is fluid and shifting.

Some participants were shocked and confused by the lack of difference having a job made in their lives. Financially many felt no better off, or were actually worse off as they had new expenses associated with working, such as transport and childcare. To meet these costs participants sometimes went into debt, borrowed from family members or sought charity.

However, in-work poverty does not just affect a person’s household budget. It also affects their mental and emotional health, their relationships and their ability to plan for the future. Living in debt, juggling bills and time pressures are often linked to stress and anxiety, which both take a toll in the long term. Interviewees described being constantly preoccupied by financial concerns and not being able to meet their families’ needs.

Some of the women we spoke to felt they needed to put a brave face on for their families, but this left them feeling alone and without support for what they are facing. While some thought staying connected to their community was vital, others felt that experiencing in-work poverty made it hard to socialise or spend time out of the house. One interviewee said:

“Only people that have money … have a social life.”

While some of the emotional and social costs identified by our participants would no doubt be familiar to people experiencing other kinds of poverty, there are some that are specific to low-income work. Disillusionment about work, the stress of insecure work arrangements, or the impact of working hours on children can all be difficult to manage.

Read the full article at https://inworkpoverty.wordpress.com/

About Skills Network

Skills Network is a women’s collective based in Lambeth. We offer free, accredited training to enable mothers to support their children’s learning and develop their own skills; training and experience of cooperative working and peer support; work experience through our parent-to-parent ‘skillsharing’ in Lambeth and social-action projects addressing the issues faced by women in Lambeth.

We are a registered charity but we operate as a co-operative; everyone who joins the organisation, whether as training course participant, facilitator, support worker, or anything else, becomes involved in decision-making, and in making our projects happen.

See more at  http://www.theskillsnetwork.org/aims-ideas/aims

December 7, 2015

Poverty in the UK: the need for a gender perspective – A briefing paper from the UK Women’s Budget Group

Poverty in the UK will only b e tackled successfully if gender is taken into account more thoroughly and comprehensively. Tackling poverty is in turn an essential component of the equitable and caring economy called for consistently by the Women’s Budget Group (WBG) . This briefing paper is based on a report on gender and poverty written for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (see note on p6)

Download the briefing paper from http://wbg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Gender-and-Poverty-Briefing-June-2015.pdf

June 30, 2015