Poverty In The UK Research Articles

Parental smoking and child poverty in the UK: an analysis of national survey data.

BackgroundIn 2011/12 approximately 2.3 million children, 17% of children in the UK, were estimated to be in relative poverty. Cigarette smoking is expensive and places an additional burden on household budgets, and is strongly associated with socioeconomic deprivation. The aim of this study was to provide an illustrative first estimate of the extent to which parental smoking exacerbates child poverty in the UK.MethodsFindings from the 2012 Households Below Average Income report and the 2012 Opinions and Lifestyle Survey were combined to estimate the number of children living in poor households containing smokers; the expenditure of typical smokers in these households on tobacco; and the numbers of children drawn into poverty if expenditure on smoking is subtracted from household income.Results1.1 million children - almost half of all children in poverty - were estimated to be living in poverty with at least one parent who smokes; and a further 400,000 would be classed as being in poverty if parental tobacco expenditure were subtracted from household income.ConclusionsSmoking exacerbates poverty for a large proportion of children in the UK. Tobacco control interventions which effectively enable low income smokers to quit can play an important role in reducing the financial burden of child poverty.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1797-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Hunger Games: Food poverty and politics in the UK

This ‘Behind the News’ intervention offers a critique of food aid provision in the UK through two distinct and yet interconnected perspectives. First, it situates the crisis of food poverty within a wider social and historic context, and second, it questions the position and response of the capitalist state to this growing crisis. The piece weaves the two perspectives together, reflecting on the current government’s struggle to recognise, accept or address the significance of this crisis.

Book Review: John H. McKendrick, Gerry Mooney, John Dickie, Gill Scott and Peter Kelly (eds) Poverty in Scotland 2014: The Independence Referendum and Beyond

Book Review: John H. McKendrick, Gerry Mooney, John Dickie, Gill Scott and Peter Kelly (eds) <i>Poverty in Scotland 2014: The Independence Referendum and Beyond</i>

Children's rights, school exclusion and alternative educational provision

This paper examines findings from a recent study in Wales of school exclusion and alternative educational provision. Many, but not all, children in alternative provision have been excluded from school. The most recent statistics reveal that nearly 90% of pupils in alternative provision have special educational needs, nearly 70% are entitled to free school meals (free school meal entitlement is often used as a proxy indicator for poverty in the UK) and three quarters are boys (Welsh Government. 2012a. Pupils Educated Other than at School, 2011/12. Cardiff: Welsh Government). The paper focuses on analysis of findings about young people's experiences of exclusion and alternative provision, and how these experiences may be contextualised within a discussion of children's rights. This analysis suggests that young people's experience is highly variable; that inappropriate curricula are still common, pastoral support uneven and that few opportunities exist for success or re-integration. In the most disturbing examples, young people were found to have experienced physical restraint and the use of isolation as punishment. The paper concludes, therefore, with a proposal for change aimed at ensuring that children's rights are placed at the heart of educational experience in practice as well as policy.

Fuel poverty in Northern Ireland: Humanizing the plight of vulnerable households

Households in fuel poverty are unable to heat their homes at reasonable cost. Energy efficiency programmes aim to tackle fuel poverty and should target resources towards households in greatest need. Households often do not have access to these kinds of schemes, as policies do not acknowledge the complex interaction between households, incomes and domestic energy efficiency, and the high level of variability which results. This paper explores this interaction at household level, and the diversity of fuel poverty which results amongst households in Northern Ireland, a region particularly prone to fuel poverty. Survey data (N=1595) are used to generate pen portraits for 18 households in varying degrees of fuel poverty. Eligibility for free energy efficiency improvements is assessed and the impacts of tailored interventions on fuel poverty are predicted. The results reveal diversity amongst fuel poor households and, in many instances, households in most severe fuel poverty do not fit the criteria for energy efficiency upgrades, despite standing to benefit from significantly reduced fuel poverty. The impacts of retrofitting are greatest for those in greatest need, but even the most generous package would leave a considerable number of households in fuel poverty, for which additional policy measures are required.

Some Useful Sources

There is now a considerable literature on poverty and inequality in the UK and Japan. This section details key publications, and particularly those which have addressed these issues from a comparative perspective. Details of relevant websites are also included.

HEY! A practical example of promoting healthy lifestyles in the early years

Children's eating habits are formed at a very young age and are shaped by what is provided for them by their parents. These eating habits set a pattern for future dietary behaviours which impact on their health and life chances. Helen Baker and Janet Solla, from the Community Health and Learning Foundation and Rhiannon Knowles and Gill Simpson, from Danone take a look at HEY!, an accredited, seven-week community health improvement course offering the opportunity to tackle health inequalities and promote behavioural changes in parents, to move towards a healthier lifestyle. This article reflects on the work undertaken through the pilot project, presents some key findings from its evaluation, and the plan for its future roll-out.In May 2013, the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) announced the accreditation of the HEY! programme. HEY! (Healthy Eating for Young Children) is led by the partnership of Danone Baby Nutrition (DBN) and the Community Health and Learning Foundation (CHLF), and delivered in collaboration with 4Children and Wiltshire Council.It is an accredited, seven-week community health improvement course designed to improve health outcomes and life chances of children aged one to three years, by engaging with their parents to deliver practical healthy eating support and life skills learning. This ambition is in line with Danone's global mission of 'bringing health through food to as many people as possible'1 and DBN's divisional mission 'to stand by mums to nurture new lives'.2One of the key factors which enables young children to thrive is access to a healthy, varied, and balanced diet. Very small children learn to like the food that parents offer them, which can shape their eating habits for the future. Research shows that parents are the key agents in providing the right social, emotional, and nutritional inputs to lay the foundations for a healthy, functioning society. Early intervention must occur in the zero to three age range to break the intergenerational cycle of chaotic lifestyles and physical ill-health.3 At the time of developing the HEY! course, 2.2 million children (17%) were living in low-income families with material deprivation, a lack of basic goods and services, and 1.6 million children (12%) were living in absolute poverty in the United Kingdom.4 DBN wanted to deliver a community project around early years intervention, offering the opportunity to tackle health inequalities and promote behavioural changes in parents move towards a healthier lifestyle, which in turn would improve their children's health.The course is aimed at children living in the areas of highest disadvantage. Research evidence demonstrates that families living in the most disadvantaged communities are often those who have the worst health outcomes, because they face the most difficult challenges in managing their health and wellbeing. A lack of language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) skills is one of the major contributing factors to this.5,6 For this reason, the course takes an embedded learning approach, using the health literacy expertise of the CHLF. HEY! is based on the health themed 'Skilled for Health' resources, which have LLN skills learning embedded within them. The twin aims of improving health and LLN skills concomitantly is what makes HEY! unique and makes it stand out from other community-based healthy eating courses.Each HEY! course runs over seven weeks in early years settings. First, parents take part in healthy eating activities with the group facilitator, and their children take part in activities linked with the parents' learning, separately in the creche. Then, the parents and children come together for shared physical activities and lunch.The weekly sessions last for three hours, and cover topics such as healthy lifestyles, food groups, portion sizes, budgeting, food labels, shopping for value, food safety, and more. The sessions are fun and interactive, and learning is encouraged through group discussion and practical activities. …

PP76 Exploring Barriers and Solutions to take up of Interventions to Address Fuel Poverty: A Health Impact Assessment of Fuel Poverty Policy in England

BackgroundFuel poverty – whereby households are unable to keep warm at reasonable cost – is an on-going problem within the UK. There are known health impacts of living in cold...

Supporting low-income families with nutrition

Families with low income generally eat a less nutritious diet than those with a higher income, either because they cannot afford enough food or because they eat foods that are nutritionally poor. This leads to health inequalities, as low-income families are more susceptible to health problems associated with obesity or malnutrition. It has been shown that poor diet contributes to higher rates of child mortality. The current issue of food poverty in the UK is evidenced by the high rate of obesity and the growing number of people accessing food banks. The main factors contributing to food poverty in the UK are a lack of money to buy food, low availability of healthy foods and limited cooking skills. Health visitors are in a good position to help low-income families overcome these obstacles, as they can identify which families are in need, offer advice and support in a sensitive manner, and direct them to the appropriate services.

Addressing child poverty in Scotland: the role of nurses

Lynn Naven and James Egan present findings from the Healthier, Wealthier Children project, with a focus on service user outcomes and impact on NHS workforce practice

Water poverty in England and Wales

Water poverty is conventionally defined as households spending more than 3% and 5% of their net income after housing costs on water. Water bills have risen faster than general prices and faster than earnings since privatisation. In 2009/10, 23.6% of households paying for water in England and Wales were spending more than 3% of their income on water and sewerage and 11.5% were spending more than 5% of their income. The article explores variation in water poverty and prospects for the future. If water bills rise 1% per year faster than household income, water poverty will increase to 35% by 2033 based on a 3% definition. Policy options are discussed.

Child poverty map reveals huge disparities in the UK

One in five children in the UK lives in poverty and is ‘missing out on the essentials of a decent childhood’. That is one of the findings from a new report published by the End Child Poverty campaign, a coalition of 100 charities committed to ending child poverty in the UK. It revealed that in one local authority (Tower Hamlets in London) and eight Parliamentary constituencies at least 40% of children are living below the poverty line. This means that they live in households earning less than 60% of median income. The study, entitled the Child Poverty Map of the UK, revealed a wide disparity within regions. In London, for example, the constituency of Poplar and Limehouse has a child poverty rate of 41%, while in Richmond it is 7%. In the North West, 38% of children in Manchester are poor, while in the Ribble Valley the figure is 7%. The report said that poverty ‘damages children’s experiences of childhood and harms their future life chances’ and cited research by Save the Children that 61% of parents in poverty had cut back on food and more than a quarter had skipped meals. Enver Solomon, chair of the End Child Poverty campaign, said that the Child Poverty Map showed ‘the gross levels of inequality’ faced by some children. He added: ‘Far too may children whose parents are struggling to make a living are having to go hungry and miss out on the essentials of a decent childhood that all young people should be entitled to.’ The campaign has written to local authorities with the highest levels of child poverty, asking how they plan to tackle the issue. ‘The government must also closely examine its current strategy for reducing poverty and consider what more it could do to ensure millions of children’s lives are not blighted by the corrosive impact that poverty has on their daily existence,’ said Mr Solomon. Meanwhile Ellen Broome, director of policy at The Children’s Society, said the study showed ‘the truly shocking scale of child poverty’ in the UK. ‘Worryingly, the situation is set to get much worse,’ she warned. ‘Families up and down the country are already struggling to make ends meet and the government’s decision to cap benefit increases for the next three years at below inflation will drive an additional 200,000 children into poverty.’ The End Child Poverty campaign used 2012 data collated by researchers from Loughborough University’s Centre for Research in Social Policy. The Child Poverty Map of the UK can be downloaded at www.endchildpoverty. org.uk/images/ecp/130212%20ECP%20 local%20report%20final(1).pdf

Supporting school leavers in areas of deprivation into initial positive leaver destinations

The contemporary attempts to tackle poverty and child poverty in the United Kingdom have been seriously hindered by the effects of the economic crisis (Hirsch, 2008a; Mooney, 2011). The prevailing discourses of the recession and intergenerational poverty can lead to a view that the effects of child poverty and the consequent detrimental impact on school education and future prospects for some young people are intractable (Sinclair &amp; McKendrick, 2009). There can be insufficient emphasis on the successful attempts, however fragile, to intervene in the cycle of deprivation. This article reports on research conducted in two contrasting groups of secondary schools in the city of Glasgow, located in areas of deprivation, as they work to secure initial positive school leaver destinations for young people. This small-scale case study highlights the importance of a strong leadership vision committed to initial positive school leaver destinations, but complemented by distributed leadership and support from external partners to enable sustained successes. It also highlights the importance of individual attention to all young people to support and motivate them and the effectiveness of intervention at an early stage.

Fuel poverty and vulnerability in the EU low-carbon transition: the case of renewable electricity

The European Union (EU) and member states alike are following a tradition of addressing fuel poverty and vulnerability at the point of purchase by final consumers by seeking to influence the impact of income, energy price and the built environment on the ability of household consumers to access the energy that they need. By focusing on the conditions of energy transmission in the most rapidly growing renewable electricity sector in the UK – offshore wind – this paper aims to question whether the regulatory socio-technological framing of renewable electricity transmission is reproducing conditions for fuel poverty and vulnerability in the UK. By drawing a comparison with renewable electricity transmission in Bulgaria, this paper argues that the problem might be symptomatic of the EU as a whole. While not arguing against the proliferation of renewable electricity and its importance in meeting the 2020 targets, this paper calls for expanding the scope of fuel poverty alleviation policy throughout the whole renewable electricity supply chain, building on Helm's argument that energy companies at the middle of the supply chain are better suited to deliver fuel policy.

Changes in Income Distributions and the Role of Tax-Benefit Policy During the Great Recession: An International Perspective

This paper examines the impact on inequality and poverty of the economic crisis in four European countries, namely France, Germany, the UK and Ireland, and the contribution of tax and benefit policy changes. The period examined, 2008 to 2010, was one of great economic turmoil, yet it is unclear whether changes in inequality and poverty rates over this time period were mainly driven by changes in market income distributions or by tax-benefit policy reforms. We disentangle these effects by producing counterfactual (no reform) scenarios using tax-benefit microsimulation and representative household surveys of each country. For the period under study, we find that the policy reaction has contributed to stabilizing or even decreasing inequality and relative poverty in the UK, France and especially in Ireland, a country where rising unemployment would have otherwise increased poverty. Market income inequality has nonetheless pushed up inequality and relative poverty in France. Relative poverty and, notably, child poverty, have increased in Germany due to policy responses combined with the increasing inequality of market income.

Tackling fuel poverty with building-integrated solar technologies: The case of the city of Dundee in Scotland

Fuel poverty in Scotland is rising and is currently experienced in a quarter of households. Large-scale renewable generation does not reduce fuel poverty because citizens still have to pay for their imported energy. However, building-integrated solar systems do reduce the amount of energy imported into homes and have demonstrably already taken some families out of fuel poverty in Scotland. This study is of the solar potential of Dundee, a city with higher than average levels of fuel poverty. A review of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation presents the deprivation status of the population in the centre of the city. The total roof area practically available for solar integration was estimated using RoofRay software. Energy efficiency measures, combined with building integrated solar systems were shown to potentially eliminate fuel poverty in central Dundee. Energetic and economic analyses of the solar systems using TRNSYS software resulted in optimal PV/inverter system sizing ratios of 1.02 and 1.06, respectively. The solar water system optimally performed with a 230L tank of 1m height and an inlet fluid flow rate of 40kg/h. The study indicates that city level solar installation programmes can help eliminate fuel poverty in Scotland at an acceptable cost.

Regeneration and food poverty in the United Kingdom: learning from the New Deal for Communities programme

Regeneration and food poverty in the United Kingdom: learning from the New Deal for Communities programme

Quantifying the prevalence of fuel poverty across the European Union

The literature and policy base for fuel poverty in the UK and Ireland is well established, and there is a growing body of single country studies beyond these two EU member states (for example Brunner et al. (2012), Dubois (2012), and Tirado Herrero and Ürge-Vorsatz (2010)), however, on a European level, the last analysis of fuel poverty was conducted in 2004, prior to the enlargement of the EU. Using survey data this paper presents an updated overview of the prevalence of European fuel poverty in the context of the accession of numerous former social states, and rising fuel prices.Analysis reveals the phenomenon of fuel poverty is occurring across the EU, with particularly high levels of fuel poverty found in Eastern and Southern European states. It is argued that there are both EU and national policy frameworks in place that address climate change and these could be used as a starting point for countries to address fuel poverty through improved domestic energy efficiency measures.This paper reflects research undertaken in 2011, supported by eaga Charitable Trust, within the umbrella of work examining issues of poverty and social exclusion across the EU, which has enabled access to the EU-SILC dataset.

The Co-construction of Shame in the Context of Poverty: Beyond a Threat to the Social Bond

Scheff (2000, 2003) has argued that shame, while recognised as a social emotion, is frequently explored outside of the social matrix and with limited reference to its role in human behaviour. Drawing on empirical qualitative research with adults living in poverty in the UK, this article illuminates a) how the co-construction of shame (feeling shame and being shamed) is fundamental in framing how people living in poverty respond to the social demands on them; and b) how shame as a phenomenon may also take on a dynamic of its own, ultimately used by those feeling shame to distance themselves from the socially constructed and denigrated ‘Other’ (Lister, 2004). The article shifts the analysis beyond shame arising from a threat to the immediate ‘social bond’ (Lewis, 1971), instead presenting it as a social fact which not only undermines human dignity but risks the atomisation of modern society.

“A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep”? Understanding Public Support for Aid: The Case of the United Kingdom

Summary Despite interest in public support for aid to developing countries, there has been limited academic research. This paper reports analysis of survey data for the United Kingdom that explores the factors driving support for cuts in aid spending as a case example. Dominant factors are found to be beliefs in the moral imperative to help reduce poverty in developing countries versus the prioritization of efforts to tackle poverty in the United Kingdom. Most socio-demographic factors are insignificant. The results highlight the need to examine support for aid in the context of government spending more generally.