Poverty (127 Summer 2007)

Where next for Gordon Brown? His first hundred days

• Gordon Brown MP formally became the leader of the Labour Party on 24 June, and Prime Minister three days later. Advice to the new Prime Minister has been flowing fast and furious, ranging from impassioned demands that he distance himself from the Blair years and bring the troops out of Iraq, to directives that he prioritise education and global warming.
  
  CPAG asked a number of prestigious commentators and people who are directly affected by poverty to outline a compelling agenda for the new Prime Minister. All agreed that high levels of child poverty and gross wealth inequality in the UK are a disgrace. Gordon Brown needs to be more open in challenging our complacent attitudes to poverty, and to adopt much more robust and transparent policies to reduce it. Here, he is urged to inculcate a sense of public outrage about child poverty and inequality in the UK that will guarantee it a place at the forefront of the political and electoral agenda.
  
• Download this article: Where next for Gordon Brown? His first hundred days (42 KB pdf file)
  

Access to justice: the role of the advice sector

• Access to independent legal advice is essential for those groups of people excluded from mainstream society and vital in any democratic system. Here, Conrad Haley describes a system under threat.
• Download this article: Access to justice: the role of the advice sector (37 KB pdf file)
  

Modern-day slavery?

• For most people, any thoughts of slavery are now firmly consigned to a shameful episode in our history. It is difficult to imagine that people in the UK today are still being bought and sold, mistreated and abused. Pamela Fitzpatrick argues that, two hundred years after the abolition of the slave trade, slavery is still very much alive and well.
• Download this article: Modern-day slavery? (32 KB pdf file)
  

Poverty (126 Winter 2007)

A child's-eye view

• The Government has pledged to end child poverty by 2020, and acknowledges that low income and disadvantage in childhood impacts on children's life chances throughout their lives. It has introduced a raft of policies to counteract the long-term effects of child poverty, and to improve the opportunities and life chances of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. However, little is known about how children from different socio-economic groups perceive and experience social difference. Liz Sutton describes a recent project by the Centre for Research in Social Policy that sought to find out.
• Download this article: A child's-eye view (79 KB pdf file)
  

Child poverty in London

• The Government has committed to a series of challenging national targets on child poverty: numbers of children in poverty to be reduced by a quarter by 2004/05 (a target which was narrowly missed) and by a half by 2010/11. There are no corresponding targets at regional or local level, but there remain huge differences in child poverty levels between different parts of the UK, and reducing these differences will be key to making further progress towards the long-term objective of eliminating child poverty by 2020. How other tiers of government can contribute to meeting this aim is likely to be a major issue on the road to the 2010/11 target. Carey Oppenheim presents the challenge for London.
• Download this article: Child poverty in London (79 KB pdf file)
  

Devolution, deprivation and disadvantage: lessons from Scotland

• On the eve of Scottish devolution in 1999, there were strong hopes that redressing social injustice would be an enduring feature of the new government, especially when the (then) First Minister promised: 'to take action to tackle exclusion, and develop policies, which will promote a more inclusive, cohesive and ultimately sustainable society.' Eight years on, and with the third Scottish elections due in May, Gill Scott and Gerry Mooney look at whether or not this ambition has been realised.
• Download this article: Devolution, deprivation and disadvantage: lessons from Scotland (79 KB pdf file)
  

Poverty (125 Autumn 2006)

Can the comprehensive spending review deliver for 2010?

• The Treasury has currently embarked on a frenetic spending round that will determine the Government's priorities for the next four years. This spending review offers the Government an opportunity to fulfill its promise to halve child poverty by 2010. If it does not deliver, it seems inconceivable that the target will be met. Paul Dornan looks at its options.
• Download this article: Can the comprehensive spending review deliver for 2010? (86 KB pdf file)
  

Ending child poverty: moving forward

• Twenty-year plans are an unfamiliar feature of the UK political landscape. Tony Blair's remarkable pledge in 1999 to end child poverty by 2020 provided a vision and a compass, but not a long-term plan. Only now is the Government trying to create a full, publicly articulated, strategy for meeting its bold targets. Recent research by Donald Hirsch for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation argues that, if it is to be successful, any long-term plan must include both initiatives to expand work opportunities and to redistribute income.
• Download this article: Ending child poverty: moving forward (86 KB pdf file)
  

A fine balance: managing work and family life

• Tess Ridge's and Jane Millar's interviews with lone mothers and their children reveal that managing work and family life is an undertaking that involves the whole family. Rather than being a barrier to employment, they show that children play an important role in supporting their mothers staying in work.
• Download this article: A fine balance: managing work and family life (274 KB pdf file)
  

Poverty (124 Summer 2006)

Interview with John Hutton MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

• Only eight months into the job, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, John Hutton MP, is a lead figure in the Government's drive to eradicate child poverty by 2020. He also has ambitious plans to reduce the number of people claiming incapacity benefits by one million over the next ten years. He talks here to Alex Belardinelli about failing to meet the first child poverty target, tackling benefits dependency and making sure that work provides people with a route out of poverty.
• Download this article: Interview with John Hutton MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (28 KB pdf file)

Poverty (123 Winter 2006)

Disabled claimants cannot be pushed into work

• Editorial from Poverty 123
• Download this editorial: Disabled claimants cannot be pushed into work (16 KB pdf file)

Changing weights and measures: disability and child poverty

• The fall in child poverty from its peak of one in three children in 1998/99 is, by now, familiar. But how have children of disabled parents and disabled children themselves fared relative to children not affected by disability? Tania Burchardt examines the question.
• Download this article: Changing weights and measures: disability and child poverty (43 KB pdf file)

Mind the gap: child poverty and educational attainment

• The observation that children from poorer backgrounds do worse in terms of educational outcomes was first highlighted in Rowntree’s investigation into poverty in York at the turn of the twentieth century. A hundred years on, gaps in educational attainment between children from rich and poor families continue to be marked, and an increasing focus of government policy. The recent White Paper, Higher Standards, Better Schools for All, acknowledges that ‘a child’s educational achievements are still too strongly linked to their parents’ social and economic background – a key barrier to social mobility’. The debate continues, however, about whether the current direction of government policy towards increased choice and competition is the most appropriate one for reducing the attainment gap and promoting the achievement of the poorest. Here, Jo Blanden and Sandra McNally provide an overview of the evidence before addressing the really important question: what should be done?
• Download this article: Mind the gap: child poverty and educational attainment (52 KB pdf file)
  

A credit to the Revenue?

• Tax credits, aimed both at increasing family incomes and returns from work, are crucial to tackling child poverty. The programme is large – in 2004/05 £15.8 billion was spent – and encompasses most families, and this serious investment in children has been welcomed by those keen to see the Government meet its child poverty targets. Yet early problems with both its structure and the quality of the administration have dogged the scheme and threatened its success. Eliza Buckley and Paul Dornan examine some of these and the Government’s action plan for reform.
• Download this article: A credit to the Revenue (47 KB pdf file)

Poverty (122 Autumn 2005)

An 80 per cent employment rate

• The government wants to raise the UK employment rate to 80 per cent, which could make a real difference to the level of poverty in this country. The objective is ambitious but achievable, providing the government plans to achieve it over the long term, investing in high-quality support for those who need it most. But, warns Richard Exell, any attempt to rush things, or to put unfair pressure on disabled people and other disadvantaged claimants, would put the whole enterprise in a different light - and probably doom it to failure.
• Download this article: An 80 per cent employment rate (50 KB pdf file)

Low paid workers: the forgotten poor

• Poverty in the workless population is well documented and being tackled by the government in its welfare to work policies. Yet poverty among low-paid workers remains a pressing issue. For those who need it most - including those providing essential services such as childminding, cleaning and catering - the National Minimum Wage has made little real difference, nor is the tax credits system making real inroads. Here, Carol Murray from the Scottish Low Pay Unit argues for the problem to be first addressed at its source: increasing the minimum wage to an adequate, flat-rate level.
• Download this article: Low paid workers: the forgotten poor (52 KB pdf file)
  

In-work child poverty

• A close look at the evidence on families and their income shows how wrong it is to believe that, if people work, own their home and live as couples, they and their children will be free of poverty. If the government is to make further progress in abolishing child poverty, writes Peter Kenway, much more needs to be done to improve pay (including regional variations) and the conditions of work. These are goals that anti-poverty campaigners and trade unions need to join together to realise.
• Download this article: In-work child poverty (90 KB pdf file)

Poverty (121 Summer 2005)

Making the public case for tackling poverty and inequality

• New research has found that many people are unaware, misinformed or sceptical of the reality of poverty in the UK, and of the Government's pledge eradicate child poverty by 2020. Here, Louise Bamfield argues that the Government needs to engage greater public support for this goal, as much more investment is needed to achieve it. Investing in quality of life and improving life chances must be argued as both morally right and, in the bigger picture, beneficial to society as a whole.
• Download this article: Making the public case for tackling poverty and inequality (35 KB pdf file)

The links between women's and children's poverty

• Research shows that the burden of responsibility for managing family finances in low income families generally falls on women. When there is debt or barely enough to go round, women often do without basic necessities themselves. Such stress can damage health and self-esteem, which in turn can affect women's job prospects and parenting abilities. In this way women's poverty is inexorably linked with that of children. Ruth Lister argues that policy makers must acknowledge this link in their efforts to eradicate child poverty.
• Download this article: The links between women's and children's poverty (35 KB pdf file)
  

Mothers, babies and the risks of poverty

• Class difference in infant mortality, one of the Opportunity for All poverty indicators, has widened since 1998. Many other poverty-related child health indicators are also not improving or getting worse - low birth-weight, obesity, asthma, teenage conceptions, some infectious diseases and sexually transmitted disease. Childhood accidents have fallen but class differentials have widened. A new source of evidence on child poverty and health is emerging as the results of the Millennium Cohort Study become available. Emese Mayhew and Jonathan Bradshaw present some findings from and analysis of this important new source.
• Download this article: Mothers, babies and the risks of poverty (30 KB pdf file)

Halving child poverty: a truly historic third term?

• Paul Dornan considers the Government's progress towards eradicating child poverty as Tony Blair begins his third term in office.
• Download this article: Halving child poverty: a truly historic third term? (24 KB pdf file)
  

Poverty (120 Winter 2005)

Towards universal childcare

• The Government's new ten-year strategy for childcare focuses on choice and flexibility, availability, quality and affordability. Hundreds of thousands of new childcare and early education places have already been created across the nation, and this expansion needs to be maintained if the goal of childcare for all is to be achieved. As Stephen Burke notes, the challenges of funding and affordability, building a sustainable system and quality workforce, and meeting families' needs across the spectrum must be met for the vision to become a reality.

Paying more and getting less: exclusion from utilities

• While all of us need access to gas, electricity, water and telephone services as part of our daily lives, some pay more than others. Privatisation and competition are not in the best interests of the most disadvantaged, argues the National Consumer Council. Direct debit payment or energy efficient provision are not often feasible for those on low incomes or otherwise vulnerable. Government, regulators and suppliers must work together to stop the poor paying more.
  

Accessible and affordable transport for all

• Planning of transport routes and access to services is increasingly geared towards car-users, while public transport fares have risen disproportionately in relation to motoring costs. For those who are economically or socially disadvantaged, the costs of travel and inadequate means of transport can be a major barrier to participating in everyday activities. Stephen Joseph and Kechi Petruzzelli discuss the issues and set out what the Government is doing - and should do - to improve transport options from the ground up.

School meals fact sheet (54 KB pdf )

• School meals play an important role in tackling disadvantage and in the fight against child poverty.
  
  The need for good-quality, easily accessible school meals is more important than ever. Of the 1.8 million children entitled to free school meals in the UK, over 350,000 do not claim them due to fear of stigma and bullying.
  
  Research also shows that millions of mothers often have to go without food because they do not have enough money, in order that their children can eat.
  
  
• Download a 4-page school meals fact sheet (54 KB pdf), including sections on: What is food poverty?; Food security; The importance of healthy eating; Policy developments; What needs to be done?; History of school meals; Examples of good practice for school meals; CPAG recommendations.

Poverty (119 Autumn 2004)

Can 'tracking' children reduce the harm of poverty?

• A national database containing details of all children - from addresses and schooling, to what services they and family members have had dealings with - is being proposed in the Children Bill. It would enable wider access by professionals to currently restricted information, in an effort to improve the identification of needs and be able to provide help more quickly. Eileen Munro assesses the adequacy of this approach and whether it will make any real difference to the life chances of children in poverty.

Progressing the Government pledge on child poverty

• This edition of Poverty welcomes a new Chief Executive, Kate Green, to CPAG. Kate arrives at a critical time in the campaign to end child poverty, about a quarter of the way through the 20-year period set by Tony Blair. Kate joins CPAG from One Parent Families (OPF). Here Paul Dornan asks Kate how she sees the child poverty debate now, how further progress may be made and how CPAG can influence this change.
  

Poverty (118 Summer 2004)

Participatory approaches to research on poverty

• What real voice do people with direct experience of poverty have in research and inquiry into poverty? Participatory approaches respect the expertise of people with direct experience of poverty and give them more control over the various stages of the research process. The authors of a recent report on 'participatory' research on poverty in the UK, Fran Bennett and Moraene Roberts, provide an overview of participatory approaches to research on poverty and examine what happens when principle turns into practice.

Force, fraud or goodwill?

• In February the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust published a Memorandum to the Prime Minister on Minimum Income Standards, challenging the Government's proposed poverty thresholds and calling for the establishment of a minimum income standards commission. The Memorandum's co-editor, Peter Ambrose, describes his research in Brighton and argues the case for basing income support payments on real levels of need as revealed by budget standards studies.

Poverty (117 Winter 2004)

Dealing with anti-social behaviour

• The former Director of CPAG and now Labour MP, Frank Field, is no stranger to controversy. In his latest book, Neighbours from Hell, he calls for a radical shift in how we deal with anti-social behaviour, which would include the use of benefit sanctions. He took a break from his busy Westminster schedule to talk to Paul Dornan.

Defining income poverty out of existence?

• We are about to enter the first milestone year of the Government's crusade against child poverty – a point at which it intends to have reduced the number of children living in poverty by a quarter. In December 2003 the Government also announced how it would measure child poverty after 2004/05. Here, Paul Dornan examines what progress has been made and the implications the measurement review may have on future policy.

Poverty (116 Autumn 2003)

The Children's Defense Fund: 30 years of action

• This year the Children's Defense Fund of the United States is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Rosemary Link looks at the history of this pioneering children's organisation.

Can we afford poverty?

• People living in poverty are vulnerable to multiple deprivation. They are more likely to live in sub-standard housing, have poorer health, and have a greater risk of being affected by crime, debt and premature death. The consequences of poverty not only have an impact on the lives of low-income families, but also pose a serious risk to public finances. Peter Ambrose argues that we can no longer afford to ignore the true cost of poverty.
  

Poverty (115 Summer 2003)

Poor, excluded and forgotten: asylum seekers and the welfare state

• Media coverage of the UK's creaking asylum system continues unabated, with proposals for 'offshore' processing centres recently grabbing the headlines. Pamela Fitzpatrick argues that the Government's increasingly punitive asylum policies are not working and run counter to its goal of abolishing child poverty.
  

The Anti-social Behaviour Bill – will it deliver for communities?

• A new government Bill seeks to tackle anti-social behaviour by introducing a range of enforcement measures. These include new powers for social landlords and a planned consultation on cutting the housing benefit of anti-social tenants. Adam Sampson asks whether the Government's approach will work.
  

Baby bonds – can asset-based welfare tackle inequality?

• After a long gestation period, the Chancellor finally announced in this year's Budget that baby bonds (the Child Trust Fund) will be introduced in 2005. Claire Kober asks how effective this asset-based approach will be in tackling child poverty.

Poverty (114 Winter 2003)

Promoting financial inclusion

• Over a million adults in Britain still live their lives without the most basic of financial products. Some 6-9 per cent of all households do not have any kind of bank or building society account and 14-23 per cent live without the flexibility of a current account. There is a large minority of people for whom the financial services revolution has effectively passed them by; they are financially excluded. Against this backdrop, Faith Reynolds assesses some current initiatives that are attempting to promote greater financial inclusion.
  

A 'child audit' of the National Action Plans for social inclusion

• Fran Bennett and Sandy Ruxton were commissioned by Euronet, the European Children's Network of organisations campaigning for children's rights and interests, to write a report exploring how to develop a coherent approach to child poverty and social exclusion across Europe. As part of this project, they carried out a 'child audit' of the National Action Plans against poverty and social exclusion developed recently by the UK and other member states.

Poverty (113 Autumn 2002)

Facing the childcare challenge

• The Government's first ever National Childcare Strategy, launched in May 1998, is an integral part of its package of policies designed to tackle child poverty and social exclusion. Megan Pacey looks at how effective it has been and argues that universal childcare is key to ending child poverty.
  

Childhood poverty and social exclusion – listening to children's voices

• A new child-centred study of childhood poverty gives an insight into some of the challenges that children who are living in poverty face in their everyday lives. The findings from the study are reported in a new book, Childhood Poverty and Social Exclusion: from a child's perspective, which explores the lives and experiences of children living in poverty using child-centred research methods which engage directly with the meanings and perceptions of poor children themselves. Here, the book's author, Tess Ridge, describes some of the findings.

Poverty (112 Summer 2002)

New tax credits: will they tackle child poverty?

• Poor people cannot be identified on the basis of their behaviour, or any other observable feature. Their standard of living can only be measured objectively and to understand what is socially regarded as unacceptable, people have to be asked for their views and opinions. At this point, we encounter the first problem with trying to measure poverty, best described by R H Tawney: 'What thoughtful rich people call the problem of poverty, thoughtful poor people call with equal justice a problem of riches.' Here, Paul Treloar looks at whether the new child tax credit can adequately address the problem, as perceived by both sets of thoughtful people.
  

'Security for those who cannot': Labour's neglected welfare principle

• The Government's welfare reforms have been based on the principle of 'work for those who can, security for those who cannot'. While benefits policy and delivery have focused heavily on the first half of this equation, the security side has been neglected. Saul Becker argues that New Labour will need to address what this means in practice and pay far more attention to providing real security for those who cannot work if more people are to be lifted out of poverty.

Poverty (111 Winter 2002)

Housing benefit: progress at last?

• The problems of the housing benefit scheme have often been examined but rarely tackled effectively. Geoff Fimister reports on a new study which could help to generate some real progress.

Listening to children: their contribution to anti-poverty policies

• Children's own accounts of what it is like to be poor can increase our understanding of the impact on families of living on a low income. Here, Tess Ridge argues that for anti-poverty strategies to be successful, we need to allow children's own voices to be heard.

Poverty (110 Autumn 2001)

Mind the gap: widening inequalities

• The latest official figures show that, despite a number of government anti-poverty initiatives, income inequality continues to rise. Adrian Harvey questions whether a Government committed to tackling poverty can afford to ignore the growing gap between rich and poor and argues that if inequalities continue to be ignored the target of ending child poverty will not be met.

• 'What greater inequality can there be than to die younger and to suffer more illness throughout your life as a result of where you live, what job you do and how much your parents earned.' So said Yvette Cooper, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health, launching the consultation paper Tackling Health Inequalities. Here, Tim Marsh examines this latest government initiative, together with the national health inequalities targets, and asks whether they are likely to be successful in reducing the health gap between rich and poor.

• '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.' Tony Blair, July 1996 Speaking while still in opposition Mr Blair could hardly have foreseen the Labour landslides of 1997 and 2001 and the two-term timescale these would allow for the achievement of what was declared to be a key ambition for his Government. How goes New Labour's fight against inequality? Not too well according to some.

• In July the New Policy Institute launched a new mini-think tank to campaign for a council tax which is fairer to families with low incomes. This Centre for Council Tax Reform is being supported by the public sector union, PCS, and the Local Government Information Unit. Through publications, events and behind-the-scenes lobbying we aim to draw attention to the inequities of the current system and campaign for change.

• September is the start of the academic year and the beginning of university life for over 1.5 million students. But for many, it is the first step on the road to massive debt and poverty.

Poverty (109 Summer 2001)

Children, poverty and disability

• The Government has made an ambitious and public commitment to eradicating child poverty within a target of 20 years and has put (at least some of) its money where its mouth is, with a range of policy initiatives and increases in benefits. Some of the changes represent improvements for all parents – parental leave, above average increases in child benefit – others are targeted at low-income families – working families' tax credit, allowances for children within income support and schemes such as Sure Start. So far, so good, but will these improvements reach all children at risk of poverty? What about disabled children or children in families where a parent is long-term sick or disabled? Lorna Reith looks at what action the Government is taking to address their needs.

• Many campaign organisations believe that children are especially vulnerable to the powerful emotive messages in advertisements and that advertisers readily exploit children for commercial gain. The effects of marketing targeted at children are far reaching and place a disproportionate burden on low-income families. Charlie Powell describes the unhealthy way in which childhood is increasingly being transformed into a market.

• The ICC is intended to roll up the children's additions to means-tested benefits with the new children's tax credit, to create a combined means-tested credit payable regardless of whether or not parents are in work or of which benefits they receive. CPAG sees the ICC as a potential means of channelling further resources towards low-income families with children, but has also warned of the possible hazards - not least the danger that the new means-tested payment might come to be treated as an alternative to child benefit, rather than building upon it as the Chancellor has promised.

• There are two main proposals: a new Child Trust Fund, with a lump sum invested at birth and further payments at 5,11 and 16; and a new Savings Gateway – a guarantee to match the tax-free savings made by individuals with funds from the Government.

• School meals play an important role in promoting healthy eating and tackling disadvantage, but of the 1.8 million children in the UK who are eligible for free school meals, on average one child in five fails to take it up. Currently, only those children whose parents are in receipt of income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance are eligible for free meals.

Poverty (108 Winter 2001)

Does 'public utilities' mean anything any more?

• Concern about poverty has long included awareness of the precarious grip that householders struggling to make ends meet have on the basic household essentials: gas and electricity, water, and more recently, telephones and allied services. Here, Martin Fitch explores the impact the privatisation of the utility industries has had on its poorer customers.

• The latest word on social security fraud is that 'the tide is turning against benefit cheats'. The evidence for this turn of events is, according to a DSS press release in November 2000, 'the first substantial fall in fraud and error'. Three cheers for the Government, then? Perhaps. But before we sigh with relief that we have 'benefit cheats' on the run, Roy Sainsbury takes a closer look at the latest fraud figures and examines what else they can tell us about the health of our social security system.

• In the first of what we hope will be a regular series of personal viewpoints, Pascale Vassie describes the human cost of one South London urban regeneration scheme.

Progress reports

• In March 1999, the Prime Minister announced the Government's intention to set in train a programme to abolish child poverty within 20 years. In September 1999, Opportunity for All: tackling poverty and social exclusion made its appearance. This was announced as the first of a series of annual reports, designed to track progress towards the Government's objectives in attacking poverty and promoting social inclusion.

• The Government is currently consulting on its proposals to reform the notoriously complex and unsatisfactory law on maternity and parental rights.

The case for a decent minimum wage

• It is over 18 months since the national minimum wage was introduced and the evidence shows that it is a success, enjoying wide support from the public and key stakeholders. Together with the Working Time Regulations and the working families' tax credit, the minimum wage provides protection for low-paid workers against gross exploitation and plays a key role in the Government's 'making work pay' strategy.

Poverty (107 Autumn 2000)

Designing the employment tax credit

• In a major shift in social policy, payments for children and adults will be paid separately from 2003. In Poverty 106, Jane Millar examined policy and delivery issues for the proposed integrated child credit. Here, Marilyn Howard considers the design and delivery of the other side of the equation - the adult employment tax credit.

• Following the BSE and other food scandals, the Food Standards Agency was launched earlier this year. Deputy Chair, Suzi Leather, reflects on the Agency's role in combating food poverty.

• Shelter's campaign priorities for the last two years have focused on improving housing benefit, increasing investment in affordable housing and improving rights for homeless people. These were chosen because they were the three key issues we identified, from the experiences of our front-line services, that would make a significant improvement for the people we work with.

Payments for children

• Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, announced in this year's Budget that the children's additions to means-tested tax credits and benefits would be increased by £4.35 per child per week from June and October respectively. As CPAG had called for a £5.00 increase in October, followed by a further £5.00 in April 2001, this was a welcome step in the right direction. It would, of course, be too bold to claim that the Chancellor's decision was a response to our press statements, but the fact that such increases are debated as realistic possibilities represents a very real change in the policy climate.

• The Human Rights Act came into force in England and the UK on 2 October 2000, and will apply to decisions made on or after that date. The Act brings into law most of the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights. This includes provisions ('articles') that give rise to, for example: the right to a fair trial (Article 6); the right to respect for private and family life and home (Article 8); the protection of property (Protocol 1, Article 1) and the prohibition of discrimination (Article 14).

Poverty (106 Summer 2000)

The integrated child credit: issues of policy and delivery

• The new integrated child credit represents a major change in our system of financial support for children. The key feature of the proposal is very simple: that all poor children should receive the same type of financial support regardless of whether their parents are working or not. It is a policy which has much to commend it, but which also raises some difficult delivery issues. Jane Millar examines what we can learn from similar systems in Canada and Australia.

• The Children (Leaving Care) Bill will lead to the almost total exclusion of looked after young people from the benefits system and places sole responsibility for their financial support on local authorities. Alaster Calder provides an overview of the Bill and assesses its implications for the welfare of vulnerable young people.

• The Government has announced a radical change to the way people claim benefits. The Benefits Agency and the Employment Service are to merge in 2001, to create a new 'ONE' agency, where people of working age will claim most of their benefits. The new Pensions Agency will be responsible for benefits for people over working age and, from 2003, the Inland Revenue will be responsible for assessing and delivering the integrated child credit and employment credits for low-paid workers. All should take advantage of information technology to share information and to pay people benefit through their wages or by automatic credit transfer into bank accounts. Only disability living allowance and attendance allowance will be left outside this new structure.

Hidden hunger

• New work by Sustain farming (formerly the National Food Alliance and the SAFE Alliance) has revealed further evidence to to highlight the problem of food poverty among children in the UK, . This includinges children going without food for long periods, arriving at coming into school hungry and making very unhealthy food choices, and some visible signs of malnutrition at school. Jacqui Webster and Vicky Johnson describe the project.

• Press reports had suggested that the Chancellor would be stepping up the 'war on child poverty' in April's Budget ('Budget to focus on child poverty' - The Guardian 17 February). Expectations were therefore high, but did the Chancellor deliver?

A refuge for children?
The impact of the Immigration and Asylum Act

• The number of people seeking asylum in the UK has increased dramatically over recent years and the asylum system has been characterised by delay, confusion, inconsistency and inefficiency. Against this backdrop the Government laid out its plans to 'modernise' asylum procedures in its White Paper Fairer, Faster, Firmer, which culminated in November 1999 with the passing of the Immigration and Asylum Act. Terry Smith assesses the Act's implications for children and shows how it is contrary to the spirit of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

• The Government aims to have eradicated child poverty in twenty years' time - but how can it establish the minimum household income that would require? John Veit-Wilson examines the complexities surrounding governmental minimum income standards.

• From April, the new community legal service will radically change publicly-funded advice. It will affect the activities of funders and service providers, ranging from local authorities through to solicitors and community groups, and is based on the development of local networks of information providers - welfare agencies, libraries and community groups. Yet knowledge of the new service remains sketchy. Nick Whitton provides an overview.

Child support - the reform wheels turn

• Following the publication of the Government's White Paper on child support in July (see Poverty 104), child support reform has been the subject of a report by the Social Security Committee, and is the centrepiece of a new Bill.

• Housing costs play a key role in determining net disposable incomes, so housing benefit (HB) should occupy a key place in any anti-poverty strategy. Nevertheless, readers of Poverty could be forgiven for having lost track of where the Government's much-delayed review of the HB scheme is up to.

Child benefit - where to next?

• Before the budget, speculation was rife that child benefit, having increased since the last general election, would be taxed. This did not happen, even though child benefit and the children's allowances in income support will increase this year. In a little-reported section of his Budget speech, the Chancellor announced that his long-term goal was to bring together the different elements of benefits payable for children into a seamless system of support. Marilyn Howard looks at what may happen to child benefit in future.

• Controversy about the Welfare Reform and Pensions Bill has recently focused attention on contributory benefits and the balance between means-tested and non-means-tested benefit provision. The Social Security Select Committee is conducting a timely inquiry into the contributory principle and its future. Martin Barnes examines the options.

• Soon after the Report of the Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health chaired by Sir Donald Acheson, a report by the Family Budget Unit (FBU) published in December last year estimated the costs of a Low Cost but Acceptable (LCA) living standard - or poverty threshold - for families with young children, in and out of paid work. Hermione Parker summarises the main findings.

• Pollution hits poor people hardest. This is the message to the UK Government from Friends of the Earth’s new work linking pollution to poverty.

• The Welfare Reform and Pensions Bill had its report stage in the House of Commons on 20 May. 67 Labour MPs voted for the amendment to delete the clauses on restricting eligibility for incapacity benefit and reducing entitlement for those with occupational pensions.

• The Kosovo refugee crisis has brought home the reality of the experience of flight from persecution. The crisis also raises grave questions about the treatment of refugees in the UK, which is to be reformed in the Immigration & Asylum Bill, currently before Parliament.