Child Poverty and Changes to benefits for lone parents and families

1

• Child Poverty and Changes to benefits for lone
  parents and families
• Ruth Hession and Nel Coles

2
Context of the changes

• Both Social Security Advisory Committee Work
  Pensions Select Committee advised against going
  ahead
• DWP research Work Well being over time Lone
  mothers and their children No support for
  compulsion
• Gregg report Conditions, Sanctions Work for
  just about everyone - provides basis for current
  changes and carried through into,
• The Welfare Reform Bill - gives power to take the
  changes several steps further for a wider groups
  of claimants

3
Ending Child Poverty Making it happen

• Consultation paper setting out government plans
  for ending child poverty by 2020
• Deadline 11/3/09

4
Ending Child Poverty Making it happen

• Sets out the Governments 2020 vision
• Considers progress so far, and looks at measures
  of success
• Looks at scope for tackling Child Poverty in
  local communities
• CP bill will follow

5
The Governments 2020 vision

• Lists 4 Key aspirations
• More parents in work that pays
• Financial Material support responsive to
  families situations
• Improvements in childrens life chances to stop
  poverty translating into poor outcomes
• Safe, cohesive communities that support children
  to thrive

6
1. More parents in work that pays

• Employment is the biggest factor in family income
• Children in households where no adults work have
  63 risk of relative poverty 29 risk where 1
  adult works and 8 where both do
• In-work poverty is a challenge
• In-work poverty and unemployment are linked
  families often go from one to the other in cycles

7
1. More parents in work that pays

• What barriers are there?
• Low Skills
• Poor physical and mental health
• Caring responsibilities
• Family breakdown/ family crisis

8
2. Financial material support responsive to
families situations

• A childs life chances should not be determined
  by their parents capacity to earn
• Financial support is needed as well as incentives
  to work
• Families get the help they need through a
  responsive tax credit system
• Families unable to work are supported

9
3. Improving poor childrens life chances, to
stop poverty translating into poor outcomes

• Every child matters 5 Outcomes identified
• To be healthy
• To be safe
• To enjoy and achieve
• To make a positive contribution
• To achieve economic well-being

10
4. Tackling deprivation creating safe cohesive
communities, that support children to thrive

• Deprived environment affects cognition,
  communication, health attainment
• Families will live in safe cohesive communities
  where children can thrive
• Children will have safe places to play.
  Opportunities to develop and access to high
  quality services

11
In work Poverty

• 1.8 million families classed as in work poverty
• This represents
• 50 of all children in poverty
• 18 of all children in working families
• Joseph Rowntree Foundation Addressing in-work
  Policy Peter Kenway research based on data
  averaging the three most recent years available
  (up 2005/06) November 2008

12
In Work Poverty

• Government has partially acknowledged in work
  poverty
• Work is the surest route out of poverty but not
  an immediate guarantee a combination of low
  wages and/or low hours in low skilled jobs may
  mean that working families remain in poverty.
  Parents may face constraints that limit their
  ability to earn a sufficient income or progress
  in the workplace
• (HM Treasury, et al 2008- Ending Child Poverty
  Everybodys business)

13
The costs of Ending Child Poverty

• The government must spend an additional 4.2
  billion a year in benefits and tax credits to
  meet its target of halving child poverty by 2010
• The research has projected that the recession
  will mean less parents in work and more families
  in severe poverty, making the cost of reducing
  child poverty greater
• Joseph Rowntree Foundation- Ending child poverty
  in a changing economy February 2009

14
Definitions of Poverty

• Child Poverty-households with below 60 of median
  income before housing costs
• Relative low income (below 70 of median income)
  and material deprivation
• Persistent Poverty
• Govt unable to set a target seeking advice about
  how to measure this
• Consulting on Absolute poverty measures
• Real income levels compared with real costs of
  living

15
Eradicating Child Poverty

• Govt target to eradicate Child poverty by 2020
• to reduce children in relative low income to
  5-10
• Reducing children in material deprivation
  combined with low income to zero
• Continued progress on persistent poverty
• End Child Poverty Coalition states that govt
  target should aim for 5 in relative low income
• Matching the best achieved in Europe

16
Contradictions in Government Vision

• One of the key aspirations, improving poor
  childrens life chances
• To encourage more parents to get involved with
  their childrens education and to reduce the
  pressures on families
• The above contradicts with the main government
  vision work as the way out of poverty with a
  focus on lone parents

17
Changes to childcare

• As a response to criticism of their welfare
  reform measures in relation to childcare
  provision.
• Current provision of 12 ½ hours free childcare
  increased to 15 hours a week for 3-4 year olds
• Extension of free childcare to two year olds
• New pilots in some disadvantaged areas for free
  childcare
• Lone parents with children aged one plus required
  to attend WFI (Welfare Reform Bill)

18
Changes to Benefits

• SS (Lone parents Misc. Amendments) regs 2008
  makes changes to
• SS Income support (Gen) regs 1987
• - Schedule 1B (1) Lone Parents
• SS (WFI for lone parents) Misc. regs 2000
• SS (Jobcentre plus Interviews) regs 2002

19
Changes to Income Support for Lone parents

• Phase 1 Youngest child 11-15 on 24/11/08
• New repeat claims from above date - only as a
  lone parent no longer possible if Y. Child 12
• Existing claims
• Y. Child 16 on or before 1/3/09 - no change

20
Changes to Income Support for lone parents

• Y. Child under 16 on or after 2/3/09 IS stops in
  stages
• Y. Child 14 or over on 1/3/09 IS stops after next
  WFI or 16th b-day whichever comes first
• Y. Child 13 reaching 14 after 1/3/09, IS stops in
  week after 14th b-day
• Y. Child is 12 (on 24/11/08), IS stops in the
  week after next WFI after 6/7/09
• Y. Child 11 but 12 before 6/7/09 IS stops after
  WFI following that date
• Y. Child is 11 reaching 12 after 5/7/09, IS stops
  in week after 12th B-day

21
Changes to Income Support for lone parents

• Phase 2 from 26/10/09 affects Lone parents whose
  youngest child is 9 -11
• Phase 3 from 25/10/10 affects Lone parents whose
  youngest child is 6-9
• As with Phase 1 existing claimants will have a
  staggered introduction starting with those whose
  youngest child is at the top of the age bracket
  and taking several months to complete
• - New and repeat claims will not be possible
  from each relevant date where Y. Child is over
  12 over 10 and over 7 respectively

22
Changes to Income support for lone parents

• Quarterly WFIs - youngest child 9-11 from
  24/11/08
• Quarterly WFIs - youngest child 6-8 from
  26/10/09
• Quarterly WFIs- youngest child aged 6 25/10/10
• Full time students/ FT new deal trainees on
  24/11/08 can stay on Income Support
• However no exemption for home educators self
  employed childminders (who can also no longer
  work more than 16hrs without being treated as in
  F/T work)

23
Changes to JSA for Lone parents

• Available actively seeking work
• 7 days to be ready to attend an interview 28
  days to start job after offer
• May reduce hours availability in certain
  circumstances (ie child excluded from school)
• In some cases may be able to restrict hrs
  availability even if no reasonable prospect of
  employment would then exist
• Just cause for leaving a job additional rules
  
• good cause for not taking a job additional
  rules

24
Feedback Points

• 1st Discussion
• Reasonable Prospects and Availability
• How will the PA decide to apply this test to lone
  parents, appears to be a discretionary power?
• Relies on the claimant identifying this as an
  issue/ need
• DWP research into lone parents provides evidence
  of the difficulties in relation to availability
  and work
• Work and well-being over time lone mothers and
  their children DWP Research report 536

25
Feedback Points

• Key aspiration 1
• Difficult to see how this can be achieved,
  particularly for lone parents
• Childcare issues
• Temporary nature of a lot of work
• Complexities/ difficulties with tax credits
• Current state of economy

26
Feedback points

• Group 2
• Good Cause/ Just Cause
• Decisions in relation to child care at the
  discretion of PA
• Child care expenses unreasonably high
  proportion of income / earnings
• Reasonable availability of child care
• Suitability of child care

27
Feedback Point

• Key aspiration 2
• Are govt proposals improving financial support
  and responsive to need?
• More lone parents will be sanctioned
• Tax Credits not truly responsive and very complex
• High costs of child care
• Benefit levels still not enough to raise most out
  of poverty

28
Feedback points

• Purnell (work and pensions secretary) asked by
  the select committee what would happen to a
  mother who rejected childcare because it was too
  far away and poor quality
• the system will be able to be personalised
• it will be the personal advisers decision with
  the possibility of appeal, because if we did it
  the other way round that would clearly have the
  potential to drive a cart and horses through the
  conditionality regime
• Reported in The Guardian 23/02/09

29
Conditionality?

• Purnell
• Conditionality is an ugly, technical term, so we
  should restate its meaning plainly. It is about
  encouraging people to take up support for what we
  know works.
• How can a system of compulsion and sanctions be
  encouraging people?
• Institute of Public Policy Journal Feb 2009