Child Poverty in Wales - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 19
About This Presentation
Title:

Child Poverty in Wales

Description:

Child Poverty in Wales. Public Affairs Cymru ... Through the Eyes of a Child. What Needs to Happen? Common Myths about Child Poverty ... A National Disgrace? ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:63
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 20
Provided by: rwa79
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Child Poverty in Wales


1
Child Poverty in Wales
  • Public Affairs Cymru
  • Cardiff 18th March

2
Child Poverty in Wales
  • Key Facts and Figures
  • Outcomes for Children
  • Through the Eyes of a Child
  • What Needs to Happen?
  • Common Myths about Child Poverty
  • Questions/Discussion

3
Some Facts and Figures
  • A National Disgrace?
  • UK is the 4th largest economy but has one of the
    highest levels of income child poverty of all
    industrialised countries
  • 21st out of 26 Countries in UNICEFs League
  • 28 of children in Wales
  • 180,000 children
  • 13.4 living in severe child poverty
  • Extremely low incomes - 134 per week for a
    couple a child

4
Child Poverty in the UK - Trends
5
Outcomes for children
  • UNICEFs latest report card on the well-being of
    children in rich countries states that
  • The evidence from many countries persistently
    shows that children who grow up in poverty are
    more vulnerable specifically, they are more
    likely to be in poor health, to have learning and
    behavioural difficulties, to underachieve at
    school, to become pregnant at too early an age,
    to have lower skills and aspirations, to be low
    paid, unemployed and welfare dependant. (UNICEF,
    2007 p.5)

6
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)
  • 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

7
Through the eyes of a child
  • Pressures on family relationships
  • Stigma and victimisation
  • Education key route out of poverty
  • Participating - leisure, transport
  • Self -esteem
  • Access to decent jobs
  • Aspirations and expectations

8
Missing Out
  • Over one in four - no fresh fruit every day
  • Essential shoes and clothes
  • Warm home
  • Replacing worn out furniture or electrical goods
  • After school activities school trips
  • Inviting friends around for tea
  • Family holidays
  • Separate bedrooms for different sex children
  • Poor quality services e.g. lack of play
    spaces/provision
  • Poor job prospects.

9
What needs to happen?UK - Westminster
  • 4 Billion extra per year (3 Billion after last
    weeks Budget!) to meet 2010 target (28 Billion
    for 2020)
  • Support Incomes
  • Seasonal Grants
  • Make Work Pay
  • Tackle the Poverty Premium (inc. reform of Social
    Fund)
  • Welfare to Work Programmes

10
What needs to happen? Welsh Assembly Government
  • Routes to employment
  • Maximising household income
  • Making public services work for families facing
    multiple disadvantage
  • Education to transform life chances

11
Routes to employment
  • Whole family approaches
  • More time for preparation for return to work and
    longer period of support once in work
  • More personal advisers with expertise in
    supporting clients with a history of metal health
    or substance misuse
  • Improving childcare

12
Maximising household income
  • Increasing take up of in-work benefits
  • Advice and support to reduce debt burden
  • Improved administration of housing benefit
  • Reducing household costs

13
Making public services deliver for families
facing multiple disadvantage
  • Engaging families
  • Individualised, flexible assistance over a
    sustained period of time
  • More effective joining up of services
  • High priority for Local Service Boards
  • Role of health visitors hand over to school

14
Narrowing the gap in education
  • Early years provision
  • Incentives for schools to reduce inequalities
  • Joined-up approach role of other agencies
  • Community focused schools
  • Personalised learning
  • Increased funding
  • Management and professional development
  • Enhance remedial support
  • Another New Ideas project

15
Local authority pilot project
  • Two pilots RCT and Gwynedd
  • Corporate approach
  • Guide/Toolkit
  • Steering group
  • Select policy areas for attention
  • Revise guide
  • Roll Out

16
Common Myths about Child Poverty in the UK
  • Child Poverty doesnt exist in the UK
  • The UK does better than other countries on child
    poverty
  • People living in poverty have enough money to
    live on
  • Child poverty is an inner city problem you
    dont see poor children in the countryside
  • Poverty doesnt harm children
  • Child poverty doesn't carry any costs to society
  • Poverty no longer has any meaning or significance
    in a rich society like ours

17
Common Myths about Child Poverty in the UK
  • The UK is a very equal society
  • The Uk is a very upwardly mobile society
  • The poor spend all their money on cigarettes and
    alcohol
  • Youll always have poor children
  • Parents can get out of poverty if they get a job
  • Children are in poverty because their parents are
    too lazy to work
  • The problem is the poor have too many children
  • It will cost too much to end child poverty

18
Child Poverty in Wales
  • The true measure of a nations standing is how
    well it attends to its children their health
    and safety, their material security, their
    education and socialisation, and their sense of
    being loved, valued and included in the families
    and societies into which they are born. (UNICEF,
    2007)

19
Thank you for listening
  • Anne Crowley
  • Tel 029 2039 6838
  • a.crowley_at_savethechildren.org.uk
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com