Counting the cost of poverty
Tag: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Childcare costs: Rowntree Foundation calls for radical overhaul
New research from the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) highlights the impact the prohibitive cost of childcare has on parents’ ability to make ends meet and care for their children – even taking into account the rise in the National ‘Living Wage’.
Continue reading Childcare costs: Rowntree Foundation calls for radical overhaul
Brexit voters felt ‘ignored and left behind’
The independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is calling for a renewed drive to solve poverty, as new research reveals the extent people feel disconnected from the UK’s economic growth and how their concerns are ignored by the political establishment.
Following last month’s Brexit vote, which revealed deep divisions in British society, a poll of over 2,000 people conducted by Populus for JRF has revealed that those who voted for Brexit feel left behind by economic growth and ignored by politicians.
In one of the first polls after Brexit, it presents a clear instruction for the next government to ensure things do not return to ‘business as usual’ for people and places who feel left behind. The new Prime Minister, Theresa May, has said her premiership will focus on uniting the country and carrying out a programme of social and economic reform.
The findings show:
- Brexit voters are twice as likely to feel their local area doesn’t get its fair share of Britain’s economic success (23% vs 11%), and that their local area has been neglected by politicians (27% vs. 13%).
- Brexit voters are also nearly twice as likely to believe that national government does not listen to their concerns (40% vs. 23%).
- Brexit voters are more likely to believe wealth in the UK is not fairly distributed, and that they do not personally benefit from economic growth in the UK. In all cases, Brexit voters on low incomes were more likely to share these sentiments than those on higher incomes.
- Brexit voters feel more optimistic about their family’s future, although poorer Brexit voters less so. Asked whether they ‘feel optimistic about my family’s future’, 48% of DE Brexit voters agreed compared to 62% among AB Brexit voters.
- Brexit voters feel more optimistic about the country’s future, although poorer Brexit voters less so. 61% of DE Brexit voters agreed with this sentiment compared to 70% among AB Brexit voters.
This comes as separate polling for JRF shows poverty is a rising concern among the public as social mobility is perceived to be moving backwards. The poll, conducted a week before the Brexit vote and released yesterday, revealed:
- 90% of those polled say poverty reduction is task for central government
- Two thirds of people think poverty has increased over the last decade
- 52% believe it is harder for those living in poverty to escape than it was 10 years ago – compared to just 15% who say it’s easier.
JRF is calling for urgent action to tackle poverty and prevent further economic and social division. In September JRF will be launching a comprehensive strategy to solve poverty, outlining how national and local government, businesses and citizens can each play their part.
Julia Unwin, Chief Executive of JRF, said: “The reasons for people’s vote in the referendum are complex, but this clearly shows that millions of people up and down the country feel left behind by economic growth and ignored by those elected to serve them.
“We believe Britain will be stronger if we solve poverty, giving everyone regardless of their background the chance to live a decent and secure life. Yet instead we’re seeing a real sense that it’s harder to get on than it used to be and poverty is on the rise.
“The result of the EU referendum shows we cannot afford to return to business as usual for the poorest people and places across the UK. It is vital that politicians seize this opportunity to show that they are listening, and work not only across party lines but in collaboration with business, individuals and local communities to solve poverty once and for all.”
Tax Credit cuts: an impending disaster?
“Tax Credits are a vital piece of support for many families who need to bridge the gap between low-paid work and the costs of raising a family.” – Julia Unwin, Joseph Rowntree Foundation Continue reading Tax Credit cuts: an impending disaster?
Dignity: report reveals thoughts on a Scotland without poverty
‘If there wasn’t poverty, every community would be proud, there would be no stigma associated with living in particular places. People would feel able to participate in their community; they wouldn’t be scared of going out and getting involved.’
Over twelve months The Joseph Rowntree Foundation supported the Poverty Alliance to carry out a range of activities that would help ensure that the voices and experiences of those living on low incomes in Scotland were included as part of JRF’s UK Anti-Poverty Strategies research programme.
Over the course of this piece of work, the question of what a Scotland without poverty means was put to the participants in a series of activities. These activities – including community engagement meetings, establishing a community panel and organising the Scottish Assembly for Tackling Poverty – were then supplemented with further interviews with people living on low incomes late last year.
This short report (click on link below) highlights the particpants’ views on what a Scotland without of poverty would mean to them. The report sought to identify what some of the main challenges are, and how these may be addressed over the short and longer term.
The JRF Anti-Poverty Strategy for the UK will be published later this year.
Jobs alone will not eliminate poverty, report warns
New jobs alone will not tackle the chronic problem of poverty in Scotland, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has warned. The report was published yesterday – 100 days from the Referendum – and authors say Scotland’s public services must improve to support families and make work pay, whatever the outcome of September’s vote.
Latest research shows by the mid-2020s, one in seven working-age adults and children could still be below the poverty line – two thirds of them in working families.
The findings are detailed in the third and final referendum briefing written by the New Policy Institute (NPI) and published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) today. The research looks at the challenge that Scotland would face to tackle poverty, even with a much higher employment rate.
Scotland’s employment rate has remained at or above the UK’s employment rate for the last eight years. It currently stands at 73.5% and on rates of growth achieved in the ten years to 2007, it could reach 80% by 2025. At current population levels, this would mean an extra 300,000 jobs in the economy.
The report authors analysed the impact of this growth, looking at what would happen to poverty levels under two scenarios, depending on whether the extra jobs were full or part-time. They found:
- If the 80% benchmark was reached by the creation of only part-time jobs, poverty among working age adults and children could fall from 800,000 (19.4%) to 670,000 (16.2%).
- But if most of those extra jobs were full-time, the number in poverty would fall further, to 600,000 (14.6%). 65% of them would be in working families.
The lower poverty rate of the second scenario (of full-time jobs) shows the importance of a higher ‘work intensity’ – where families are able to access jobs with more hours. But this brings problems of its own: policy makers will need to ensure there are sufficient high quality, flexible and affordable public services such as transport, childcare, adult social care and health services, to make it possible for a family to work longer hours.
Dr Peter Kenway, Director of NPI and report co-author, said: “As employment levels rise, post-referendum Scotland must avoid replacing a problem of material deprivation with one of inflexible services and a lack of time: families short of cash are often short on time as well. Both sides of the independence campaign have to address the long-term challenges faced by struggling families of finding secure work that pays sufficiently.”
Jim McCormick, Scotland adviser to JRF, said: “These scenarios highlight the challenges that Scotland must meet if poverty rates are to decrease. Much higher employment would cut poverty, but jobs alone will not eliminate it while low pay and inadequate working hours remain so widespread.
“We need to ensure work pays enough to be a route of out poverty. Working more hours is only part of the answer: housing costs, rates of pay and the tax, tax credit and benefit systems are all implicated. Scotland after the referendum will need policy responses to all of these, whether independent or not.”