'I believe in greater equality. If the next Labour Government has
not raised the living standards of the poorest by the end of its time
in office it will have failed.' Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, July 1996
The Government is today urged to adopt more than 40 indicators to monitor progress in tackling social exclusion. The scale of the challenge facing the Government in its bid to achieve greater social cohesion is revealed, in a country where more than ten million people live in relative poverty and over two million children are growing up in families where no adult is in work.
The indicators, in a report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, show that more than four million working-age adults would like jobs, but do not have them, while young adults experience double the unemployment rate for the population as a whole.
Exclusions from secondary schools have risen fourfold since the start of the decade. Births to school-age mothers have reached their highest ever level. The number of juveniles in Young Offender Institutions and prisons has risen nearly 40 per cent in five years.
These statistics are among 46 key indicators proposed as the model for an official report on poverty and social exclusion that could be annually updated. They suggest that the Government came to power at a time when the gap between rich and poor was widening again after a modest decline in the middle years of the previous administration led by John Major.
Compiled by the New Policy Institute, the indicators are constructed from official data on household incomes, employment, health, education, crime and other barometers of social cohesion. Using the latest available statistics - extending into 1997 - the report shows that some indicators are improving, but highlights many areas of great concern:
Poverty and low income - income inequality rose steeply in the 1980s and early 1990s from four million people living in households with less than half average income (before housing costs) to around 11 million. After a modest fall in the mid-1990s, figures for 1996/7 show a renewed increase to 10.5 million. Households living in relative poverty include 3.6 million couples and their children, 2.1 million pensioners and 1.3 million lone parents and their children.
Children - figures for 1996/7 show over three million children living in households with less than half average income. Children born into the bottom two social classes used in official statistics are 25 per cent more likely to be underweight than those in the top three classes, with a consequently higher risk of poor health in later life. Children in the bottom two classes run twice the risk of accidental death faced by those in the top three.
Young adults - although youth unemployment has fallen, young people under 25 are twice as likely to be out of work as adults. The proportion of young people without qualifications has also declined, but almost a third of 19-year olds still lack such basic credentials as five GCSE passes or an NVQ level 2. Use of drug treatment agencies by young people is 50 per cent higher than in 1993. Youth suicide rates are below their 1990s peak, but those for young men in the bottom two social classes are 50 per cent above those for the top three.
Adults - recorded unemployment declined during the 1990s as job seekers found work. But the number of people on the fringes of the labour market who are not officially unemployed, but want work has increased. In total, about four million adults would like to work, but don’t. Other figures suggest that manual workers are twice as likely to develop long-standing illnesses or disabilities before they retire as professional workers. Adults in the bottom two social classes are twice as likely to report feelings of anxiety and depression as those in the top three.
Older people - age is no longer synonymous with poverty, but 60 per cent of pensioners remain in the bottom 40 per cent of the income distribution. About one million pensioners have no income other than the state retirement pension and benefits. Their vulnerability is underlined by figures showing that they spend about half as much on food as those with private incomes. Older people with low incomes are also more prone to moderate anxiety and depression.
Communities - participation in community-based activities is an important mechanism for social inclusion. Yet only a third of the poorest fifth of the population play an active part in social, political or community organisations compared with two thirds of those in the richest fifth. Poor households are one and a half times as likely to feel dissatisfied with their neighbourhood as households on average. In spite of a higher risk of being burgled, more than half the poorest homes lack contents insurance compared with one in five households overall.
The report's authors argue that a regularly updated report on poverty and social exclusion is essential if government and the wider public are to know what progress is being made. They recommend that responsibility for updating the indicators should be passed on a long-term basis to the Office of National Statistics.
Dr. Peter Kenway, Director of the New Policy Institute, said: 'Just as the Bank of England's regular report on inflation has helped to raise the standard of debate about economic policy, so a regular Poverty and Social Exclusion Report would increase public awareness and understanding of the needs of a significant minority of the population. An official, but independent, report on progress would underline the Government's commitment to meeting those needs.'
He added: 'The range of indicators brought together in this report make it clear that the private sector as well as government has a role in tackling social exclusion by ensuring that people with low incomes have better access to essential services, including personal finance and transport as well as health and education.'
