This briefing outlines the barriers parents who are preparing for work can experience when trying to access childcare in England, using evidence from CPAG’s project work.
Universal credit (UC) claimants are not always getting extra amounts of UC they’re entitled to when they become eligible for some other benefits because of poor data-sharing within the DWP.
Parents typically need to find at least £39 per week for a child’s secondary school education and £19 for a primary-aged child, research for Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) finds.
Researchers have found that going to school in the UK costs families of primary school children at least £864.87 a year, or £18.69 a week. This is before childcare costs are accounted for. For families of secondary school children, the cost of sending a child to school is at least £1,755.97 a year.
A social tariff that reduces the cost of fuel for low-income households could, in principle, more than halve the fuel poverty rate. Read a new briefing from academics at the University of York.
Who is experiencing fuel poverty? What is the relationship between fuel poverty and income? And what is the impact of the mitigations put in place to support people with rising energy costs?
Our response to the Budget: Some of the Chancellor’s plans are welcome but some are worrying. Many of the childcare changes announced are a big step forward but the stringent job-search requirements for parents on universal credit (UC) are concerning and overall the package is far short of what struggling families needed from the Chancellor as they face another year of high inflation.