2020 will almost certainly be remembered as the year of coronavirus, but 2020 was supposed to be a milestone year for more positive reasons. In 1999, in a speech at Toynbee Hall in east London, prime minister Tony Blair named 2020 as the target year for ending child poverty. To mark the year child poverty was to have been ended, academics, policy analysts and practitioners have contributed to a collection of essays for CPAG on effective approaches to tackling child poverty: 2020 Vision: ending child poverty for good.
In response to the COVID-19 emergency, our nation’s rallying cry once again is: ‘We are all in it together.’ Each Thursday evening we clapped our love and gratitude for health professionals and carers in our universal health service – the closest we get to national worship. The mutual support for each other in local communities gives meaning to social solidarity. The same gratitude is due for our social security system – the front line for the care and support of our neighbours’ financial security, keeping them safe, secure and fed. But is this how people feel? And if not, why not?
The government spending we have seen in recent months has been necessary and welcome. But how will we as a country pay for this spending? We need a public debate about who will pay for the costs that the country is facing as a result of the pandemic.
CPAG and the Church of England has produced a new report on the impact of the two-child limit after three years. Since 6 April 2017, families having a third or subsequent child are no longer entitled to additional support through child tax credit and universal credit.
CPAG, alongside Diane Dixon Associates, have been working with schools in London to explore the role of primary schools in tackling child poverty. This report contains an outline of the main project activities, as well as a summary of the key learning to emerge from the project with a particular focus on how to scale up this type of work in schools.
Our response to the Scottish Government's consultation on Housing to 2040 highlights the role housing can play in tackling child poverty and the interaction between social security and people's ability to pay their housing costs.
Lots of attention is given to the number of children in poverty but as a society we do not only care about the rate of poverty but also the depth of poverty. If everyone in poverty is very close to the poverty line we should perhaps worry less than when millions of people are substantially below the poverty line. A good way to measure the depth of poverty is the median poverty gap, which indicates how far below the poverty line the average family in poverty is.
CPAG in Scotland's submission to the Scottish Commission on Social Security's consultation on draft regulation for Disability Assistance for Children and Young People (DACYP).
Every child should be able to make the most of their time at school, but we know that the cost of school can put pressure on low-income families and put some children at risk of missing out on opportunities and feeling different and stigmatised. CPAG’s Cost of the School Day project in Scotland is working with schools and local authorities to understand the barriers that costs create for children from low-income families, and to support policy and practice change to reduce or remove them. With the project set to be introduced in England and Wales, and expanded in Scotland, what can be learned from the last six years.
