This blog explores some of the pros and cons of getting short-term assistance while challenging a determination to reduce or remove an award of adult disability payment (ADP) or child disability payment (CDP). Advisers should be aware that some people can be worse off in the long run.
Racial inequalities in child poverty are particularly stark, with over half of children from Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds likely to grow up in poverty. Economic structures that reinforce gender inequality and entrench systemic racism mean that certain groups, including women, children and Black and minority ethnic families are much more likely to be living in poverty.
Potential second earners in couple families, usually mothers, face high barriers to employment. Mothers typically face more barriers to work than fathers in couples, particularly because of issues relating to childcare and time spent out of the labour market due to caring responsibilities. To evaluate barriers to work faced by this group and identify solutions to these barriers, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) designed and delivered the Your Work Your Way project – an employment support scheme that worked with 70 potential second earners in couples.
The Chancellor’s decisions to uprate benefits in line with inflation and to restore local housing allowance rates to the 30th percentile of rents were welcome, despite coming wrapped in punitive rhetoric, and accompanied by yet another ramping up of benefit sanctions. Increasing benefit rates and support with rent costs will make a difference to many families continuing to struggle with rising prices, who approach this winter terrified about how they will get by. But, sadly, these changes will provide absolutely no help to the over 85,000 households affected by the benefit cap, who will receive not one penny more.
Today the DWP published the latest data on the outcomes of tax credit claimants who have been sent their ‘migration notice’. This is a letter informing people that they have three months to make a claim for universal credit (UC), at which point their tax credit payments will be terminated. The data reveals that 16,000 people sent a migration notice did not make the transition to UC and had their legacy benefits terminated. This equates to 27 per cent of those who have been sent a migration notice and reached their deadline (based on those sent a migration notice in the first half of 2023).
Our UK Cost of the School Day programme, carried out in partnership with Children North East, has been transformative for schools and pupils. An independent evaluation of the project between 2019-22 highlights its impact on families, schools, local authorities and the wider education system.