Poverty (129 Winter 2008)

Child poverty and well-being in the here and now

• Since New Labour pledged to eliminate child poverty by 2020, a myriad of policy changes have been made to address the problems associated with poverty and deprivation during childhood. Much of the research and policy emphasis is on the costs of child poverty and its impact on life chances and outcomes in adulthood. Recent research by Mark Tomlinson, Robert Walker and Glenn Williams relates the various dimensions of poverty to children’s well-being in their lives today.
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An interview with Ed Balls

• In the wake of the creation of the new, cross-governmental Child Poverty Unit and the implementation of the Children’s Plan, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls MP is optimistic about the future. Labour has done a lot to eradicate child poverty since 1997, he says, and remains the only party with a true commitment to the cause. But the job is far from done. He answers here some questions from Gabrielle Preston.
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Poverty and the child's world: assessing children's needs

• Poverty in a child’s life is the result of specific social and economic circumstances, which are always interrelated and complex. However, frontline workers are often unaware of the causes and consequences of poverty. Owen Gill and Gordon Jack argue the case for exploring children’s living environments to articulate more holistic approaches to the fight against poverty.
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Poverty (128 Autumn 2007)

Poverty and 'place': does locality make a difference?

• It’s easy to view poverty as an all-encompassing and uniform experience. However, the reality of poverty varies from place to place. Carol-Ann Hooper, Sarah Gorin, Christie Cabral and Claire Dyson present new research that highlights the impact that community context has upon families living in poverty
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Child poverty and party politics: what hopes of a consensus?

• All the main parties agree that child poverty must be eradicated. But recent reports reveal a lack of common ground on the right level of state intervention. Lisa Harker analyses the different political approaches.
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'Mini-jobs' for lone parents?

• Juggling work and childcare is the big conundrum of being a lone parent. But as the Government increasingly promotes work as the best way out of poverty, lone parents have little to choose from. Now however, new research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that working in a so-called 'mini-job' for under 16 hours a week could be the way to bring lone parents gradually back into full-time employment while also allowing them to adjust their childcare needs. But are the advantages to lone parents real ones? What happens once benefit cuts are taken into account? Kate Bell considers the different options, as well as whether the strategy could contribute to achieving the Government's target of halving child poverty for 2010.
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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.
  
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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