Tag: Poverty

Teachers’ report on effects of poverty makes ‘shocking reading’

Teaching union the EIS has today  formally launched a summary report of a member survey on the impact of poverty in education. The survey was designed to gauge members’ perceptions of how poverty arising from cuts to social security benefits, poor wages and insecurity of employment, is impacting in the classroom.   Continue reading Teachers’ report on effects of poverty makes ‘shocking reading’

Poverty making children sick, say doctors

Paediatricians reveal health impact on millions of UK children living in poverty

 Poverty and low income is seriously affecting the health of UK children according to paediatricians – and any new Government must tackle health inequalities or risk storing up health problems for future generations, according to a new report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG). Continue reading Poverty making children sick, say doctors

Two-child limit for Universal Credit will consign 200,000 more children to poverty

New cuts limiting universal credit to the first two children in a family will push another 200,000 children below the official poverty line, new analysis from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has shown. Continue reading Two-child limit for Universal Credit will consign 200,000 more children to poverty

Poverty Alliance publishes local elections manifesto

The Poverty Alliance has published a manifesto for Thursday’s local authority elections. The manifesto sets out what can be done at a local level to tackle poverty including the provision of high quality, affordable childcare and universal access to free breakfast clubs. Continue reading Poverty Alliance publishes local elections manifesto

Education attainment gap begins to close

New analysis shows greater proportion of pupils from deprived areas are entering higher education

A new analysis of school leaver destination statistics published by the Scottish Government reveals that the poverty-related attainment gap has begun to narrow over the past five years. The figures show that the proportion of young people entering higher education at college or university directly from school has increased faster among those from the most deprived areas in Scotland when compared to the least deprived.

In 2012, 20.4% of school leavers in the 20% most deprived areas went straight into higher education from school, compared to 58.6% of pupils from the 20% least deprived. In 2016, the percentage of school leavers entering higher education from the most deprived areas had risen to 24%, with the percentage entering from the least deprived up to 60.5%.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney welcomed the analysis but said more needed to be done to widen access to higher education, given the figures also demonstrated that young people from Scotland’s least deprived areas are more than 2.5 times more likely to go into higher education straight from school than their counterparts from the most deprived areas.

Mr Swinney said: “I want every child to have an equal opportunity to go to college and university and to succeed in life, no matter their circumstances. This new, detailed analysis provides welcome evidence that we are beginning to make progress in that aim and closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

“However, it also demonstrates the scale of the challenge in creating equity and excellence in our education system. The status quo is not an option – change is needed, and indeed change is happening.

“We need to reform our approach to get the whole system pulling in the same direction with an integrated framework that meets the needs of all young people at every stage of their journey through education.

“We are taking forward the actions recommended by the Commission on Widening Access, including the appointment of the Fair Access Commissioner to drive the whole system approach needed in this area. We are also reviewing the learner journey from 15 to 24 to ensure that the system of post-school education works effectively and efficiently to provide support to those who need it the most.  This breakdown helps to show what we are beginning to get it right and what more we need to do.”

Supplementary analysis of last month’s school leaver destination statistics shows:

  • A record proportion of young people from Scotland’s most deprived communities are continuing their education, entering training, volunteering or getting a job after they leave school.
  • A record proportion of school leavers from all backgrounds went directly into higher education in 2015/16. The proportion from the most deprived areas was 24% – up from 22.2% in 2014/15 and up from 20.4% in 2011/12.
  • There was also a narrowing of the gap in school leavers initially in further education. In 2012, 34.9% of pupils from the most deprived areas went on to further education, by 2016 this had risen to 35.9%.  Over the same time period, the percentage of pupils from the least deprived areas in further education went from 17.2% to 16.1%.
  • Over the same period, the percentage of school leavers from the most deprived areas entering employment has risen year-on-year, from 16.8% in 2011/12 to 21.2% in 2015/16.

Scottish Funding Council figures published in March showed an increase, in 2015-16, to the proportion of entrants to higher education from the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland, with wide variation among universities and colleges.

 

Dying from inequality

The suicide rate is three times higher among the poorest Scots, according to a report released today by Samaritans. In the week that Philip Hammond is expected to deliver another austerity Budget, Samaritans are calling for more to be done to tackle inequality.

James Jopling, Executive Director of Samaritans in Scotland, writes:

In 2015, 672 people took their own lives in Scotland. It’s clear however, that some people are unequally bearing this burden.

It is simply not acceptable that the risk of a person taking their own life is substantially increased according to how disadvantaged they may be.

We have made significant progress in Scotland in bringing the suicide rate down. In the ten years from 2002, when the first Choose Life Suicide Prevention Strategy was published, there was an 18 per cent fall in the suicide rate. Yet despite real progress, a significant difference in rates between the most and least deprived people in Scotland persists.

Latest figures for Scotland show that the rate of suicide was three times higher in the most deprived tenth of the population compared to the least deprived tenth.

Increasingly, Samaritans are working with others to benefit those on the margins of society.  We are providing our services in foodbanks, in homeless drop-in centres and other locations where contact from us with people in crisis can play a role in helping them manage the situation they find themselves in.

For the first time, Dying From Inequality sets out exactly what contributes to suicide risk in disadvantaged people and communities. This gives us the vitally important opportunity to galvanise other agencies and decision makers into action. So, we’ll be talking to those who can influence change in housing, stigma, lifestyle behaviours and many of the other factors highlighted in the report. We’ll be talking about Scottish solutions, in a Scottish policy and political context, with key agencies that can help us affect change.

As a starter, we think we need to target local suicide prevention work in areas of deprivation within individual local authorities. We need the forthcoming suicide prevention strategy in Scotland to be joined up with welfare, education, housing and employment policies in Scotland.  When we see large employers downsize or shut down, and local and national government seek to help, let’s make sure that help includes consideration of the mental health of the employees affected during a very difficult period in their lives.

We’ve also previously had targets to train NHS staff in Scotland to recognise and understand individuals who are in distress and may be suicidal, we believe we need this kind of programme to be extended to those agencies who might be dealing with people struggling financially, such as welfare agencies or financial services companies.  An effective and appropriate response could make all the difference.

Because it’s simply not right that so many people struggling with deprivation and poverty across Scotland find taking their own life as the only way out.

Samaritans Dying from inequality report – summary

 

 

Child Poverty Bill ‘will be a crucial step forward’

The UK Government’s austerity agenda, continuing welfare cuts, and economic uncertainty caused by Brexit are the key challenges to eradicating child poverty, Equalities Secretary Angela Constance has said. Ms Constance, who will introduce a child poverty bill to Holyrood this week, said the action being taken to tackle inequalities and end child poverty in Scotland has never been more important.

Findings in a report published by the Resolution Foundation last week show that over the remainder of the UK Parliamentary term typical households will see almost no income growth and poorer households will experience a fall in income.

Ms Constance said: “No child should grow up in poverty. All of our children deserve the best opportunities in life that we can offer them, which is why tackling the issue is a key priority for this government.

“Our Child Poverty Bill to be published this week will be a crucial step forward – it will set statutory targets to reduce child poverty and establish a framework for measuring, monitoring and reporting on child poverty. It will also require long-term delivery plans to tackle the deep-rooted causes, and for Ministers to report annually on progress. Scotland will also now be the only part of the UK with statutory income targets on child poverty.

“UK Government budget cuts, austerity measures, and welfare cuts, and scrapping of income-based child poverty targets are leading to huge social harm, and the poorest and most vulnerable in society shouldering the brunt.

“Withdrawal from the EU and the single market also poses a threat to living standards, job prospects, and income levels of people and communities across Scotland.

“It is completely unacceptable that families are facing such hardship and children are growing up in poverty. I am clear that preventing the next generation of young people being born into poverty is vital and we will work tirelessly across government and with the public, private and voluntary sectors to address this.

“That is why our Fairer Scotland Action Plan includes several cross-Government measures to tackle child poverty – and we will use all options the new social security powers give us to make a difference.

“We are spending £100 million a year mitigating the worst of UK Government cuts, funding we should be able to use to lift people out of poverty.

“So it is absolutely clear that we are taking a range of actions to ensure that children in Scotland have a bright future ahead of them; but we do that in the face of a callous and uncaring UK government which has never put the needs of the people of Scotland on their to do list.”