Although the Government has managed to put both child and pensioner poverty on a firmly downward course, serious problems remain in tackling the root causes of future poverty. This is according to authors of the latest Monitoring poverty and social exclusion report from the New Policy Institute for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The achievements of the Government’s anti-poverty strategies risk being undermined by the continuing large numbers of people who are low paid and the seeming acceptance of gross inequalities in rates of pay, claim the authors
Although the Government has managed to put both child and pensioner poverty on a firmly downward course, serious problems remain in tackling the root causes of future poverty. This is according to authors of the latest Monitoring poverty and social exclusion report from the New Policy Institute for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The achievements of the Government’s anti-poverty strategies risk being undermined by the continuing large numbers of people who are low paid and the seeming acceptance of gross inequalities in rates of pay, claim the authors.
The report is being published to coincide with the National Poverty Hearing on 6 December, when faith leaders and other opinion formers from a broad range of organisations gather to hear directly from people who are living in poverty in the UK.
Child poverty has been reduced by 700,000, reversing an entrenched trend but falling short of the Government’s target of taking one million children out of poverty by March 2006. Half of all children in poverty are in working households – the same as in the late 1990s. Contrary to the Government’s hopes, work for these families has not turned out to be a route out of poverty.
The big fall in poverty among pensioners, especially single pensioners, has been a major success of the anti-poverty policy. However, poverty among working-age adults has not been reduced and remains a major weakness.
“Great success in reducing pensioner poverty shows how effectively targeted benefits can bring about rapid, short-term falls in poverty. But unless the Government can address the root causes – inequality in the workplace and the number of young adults out of work and with inadequate qualifications – recent limited successes may not be sustained,” said report co-author Peter Kenway.
The unemployment rate among adults aged under 25, which has never fallen below 10% since Labour came to office, is now three times the rate among adults aged 25+ and is rising again in the most recent year.
The report also highlights concerns about the lack of any progress since the late 1990s in the numbers of school leavers failing to achieve basic qualifications.
From bank accounts to central heating, exclusion has fallen substantially where the Government has taken a stand. Yet there remain many other areas, especially in terms of jobs, where people at the bottom are the least likely to benefit from support and services they might arguably need the most.
“The overall picture is not so much a mixture of success and failure of policy as one of success and neglect. Where the Government has acted, change has happened. Where it has not, previous trends have continued,” added co-author Guy Palmer.
Peter Kenway (NPI Director): 020-7721 8421
Guy Palmer (NPI Director): 020 7721 8421