Legal work can be a marathon. I’m a solicitor at CPAG, and we take on legal action to protect and defend families’ rights. Last week, nearly two years after the first judgment in one of our cases, we had confirmation that it won’t go any further – we have definitively won!
This research study examines the extent to which universal credit adheres to the rule of law principles of transparency, procedural fairness and lawfulness.
A year like no other charts the ups and downs of family life on a low income during the unprecedented times of Covid 19. We (participants and researchers from the Covid Realities research project) wrote the book to show how hard life was and the change we need to see.
The government’s new Bill of Rights, or the Rights Removal Bill as some are calling it, will weaken the ability of us all to stand up for the rights of children and their families. This blog describes how two families had their applications for bereavement benefits denied, and how they used the Human Rights Act to challenge this in court with support from CPAG’s legal team.
At the British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR), our mission is to create social justice through human rights approaches and advocacy. Our aim is shared with the aim of our Human Rights Act: to create a culture of respect for human rights across the UK.
Free school meal (FSM) provision has been thrust into the media spotlight during the pandemic. But how widespread is FSM coverage? How do parents feel about FSM provision? And what do they think could be done to improve it?
This joint report from CPAG, the Church of England and the Welfare Reform and Larger Families research project presents the latest estimates of the number of families affected by the two-child limit, and provides an insight into the impact of the policy using survey data from families directly affected by it. It is a continuation of a series of annual reports tracking the impact of this policy over time.
In August, Child Poverty Action Group and the Church of England published a report, Poverty in the Pandemic, which offered a glimpse into the lives of low-income families trying to survive the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. This report provides an update on how families with children are managing financially, based on an additional 393 online survey responses received in the period since the last report was published, up to the end of November 2020.
Coronavirus has turned the lives of families with children upside down. Many parents have lost jobs or been furloughed and many schools and childcare facilities have largely been closed, leaving those still in work facing the impossible task of balancing work with childcare and home schooling. These challenges are particularly acute for low-income families. This new report from CPAG and the Church of England offers an important insight into the day-to-day struggles that families have been dealing with, as well as their strength and resilience in managing such an array of challenges on a limited income.
This report focuses on social security issues during lock down, highlighting problems making and maintaining claims without support, difficulties participating telephone assessments and appeals, some PIP awards stopping and uncertainty about whether others would be extended, a number of severely disabled and terminally ill people not receiving additional amounts they were entitled to and a gap in support for some carers.