Tackling Poverty in Leicester
Poverty in the UK
In 2018, Professor Philip Alston, the UN’s special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, visited the UK and published a damning statement on extreme poverty and human rights. He described the immense growth in foodbanks and homelessness, and he highlighted a number of factors affecting levels of poverty: Brexit, austerity, universal credit, and holes in the social safety net. The report concluded that there is a “complete disconnect” between people and government, which has remained “in a state of denial” about the issue.
A 2020 report by the campaigning charity End Child Poverty – Child poverty in your area 2014/15 – 2019/20 – made the following key observations:
- Child poverty is rising. In March 2020, there were 4.3 million UK children living in poverty, over half a million more than five years previously. Young people with experience of poverty know what that really means: the embarrassment of not being able to afford the right school uniform, the assumption that you won’t achieve anything because of where you’re from, and the anxiety and uncertainty that impact your mental health.
- Largest cities are hardest hit. The greatest concentrations of child poverty are in London and Birmingham, the UK’s two largest cities. Across both cities, there are a dozen constituencies where the majority of children live in poverty, once housing costs are taken into account. In London in particular, high housing costs leave many families with very little money left after paying for the roof over their heads.
- Most children in poverty have working parents. Three out of four children who live in poverty have at least one working adult in their household. Yet low-paid jobs and a freeze in in-work benefits mean their wages are no longer enough to keep their families out of poverty. There are other costs too. As one young person put it, “parents working full time to stay out of poverty means you personally lose out on interactions and a sense of attachment.”
- High housing costs and low wages both have an impact on child poverty. These factors combine differently depending on where you live, but they both mean that families have little money available for essentials and are at greater risk of slipping into poverty.
- The impact of Covid-19 on poverty is not yet fully known. This research covers the period before the pandemic. However, it shows significant and worrying rises in child poverty, even before the impact of the pandemic on jobs and household income.
Trends in poverty 1998-2019
UK government policy in recent years has focused on child poverty. From 1998-9 to 2004-5, child poverty rates declined at a steady rate and the 2004-5 target of reducing child poverty by a quarter was narrowly missed. Studies conclude that this reduction stemmed from policy interventions such as:
- efforts to increase employment for lone parents
- additional benefits targeted specifically at children such as child tax credit
- significant investments in early years education and care.
Between 2004-5 and 2009-10 the picture is less straightforward. Child poverty began to drift upwards again at the beginning of this period, but it started to decline again from 2008/09. CPAG analysis suggests that there is a close relationship between these trends and changes to the tax and benefits regime, so when the Government increased investments in families’ social security, there was a notable reduction in child poverty.
In 2010 the Child Poverty Act was passed with cross-party support. It pledged to end child poverty by 2020 with clear targets to reduce relative and absolute poverty, persistent poverty (living in relative poverty for three years or more) and to reduce material deprivation and the number of children in low income households.
In 2016 the Welfare Reform and Work Act abolished the Child Poverty Act, alongside its measures and targets to reduce poverty.
Since 2010, the Institute for Fiscal Studies figures show that after a short period of flat-lining, child poverty rates began to rise again. The increase in relative poverty undoes almost all of the work to reduce poverty from 1999-2010. The increase in absolute poverty means that, over a decade, the income of families towards the bottom has actually gone down – something without precedent in modern times.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation regularly report on progress towards ending poverty in the UK. Their most recent findings, published in February 2020, note the following:
- Over the last five years, poverty rates have risen for children and pensioners.
- Around 56% of people in poverty are in a working family, compared with 39% 20 years ago, because although employment and earnings overall have grown, often people’s pay and/or hours are simply not enough.
- Nearly half of all people in poverty live in a household where someone is disabled.
- Although mortgages have got cheaper for homeowners, housing costs for renters are rising.
- Groups such as disabled people, carers and young people living in “concealed households” (aged 20-34 living with parents or grandparents) are more likely to live in poverty than the rest of the population.
The JRF concludes that trends in poverty levels are driven by changes in four main factors: the employment rate; earnings; benefits and other income like pensions; and housing costs, and that since 2004/05 there has not been a sustained period where all four of these drivers have gone in the right direction.