Katie leads a programme of work on destitution and deep poverty at JRF. She is one of the authors of JRF’s ‘We Can Solve Poverty’ report, which was described as a landmark report by BBC Home Affairs Editor Mark Easton. She is a regular commentator in the media through blogs, articles and broadcast appearances. Her areas of expertise include poverty, destitution, living wage, Minimum Income Standards, Universal Credit, devolution, economic development and local growth. Prior to joining JRF, Katie was Associate Director at the Institute for Public Policy Research North where she conducted research and authored reports on regional economic development, neighbourhood renewal and UK devolution. She has also worked for the Campaign for the English Regions, the Yes campaign for an elected North East Regional Assembly, and for an MP.
Email: katie.schmuecker@jrf.org.uk
X: @KatieSchmuecker
The Government said its child poverty strategy will focus on severe and acute poverty, so it must prioritise large families, lone parents and disabled people.
Adding a protected minimum floor to Universal Credit and removing the two-child limit will reverse declining living standards for families with children and get child poverty falling.
This briefing sets out which children are at greatest risk of such severe and acute poverty, and what a child poverty strategy must include to address it.
Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani households are 2 to 3 times more likely to experience persistent very deep poverty, compared to white households.
As winter energy prices rise again, people will be plunged deeper into hardship unless the government acts. The Budget must offer an urgent plan for hardship.
In our new short film series, we highlight 4 organisations making a powerful impact in tackling hardship.
Primary schools and GP surgeries are staggering under the weight of hardship. Anyone serious about improving them needs an urgent action plan for tackling hardship.
With hardship growing, we need to combine the resources available in our communities with support from government policy, to strengthen our social safety net.
As hardship deepens, a supportive local state and national government is what neighbourhoods and communities need to thrive.