Coronavirus has turned the lives of families with children upside down. Many parents have lost jobs or been furloughed and many schools and childcare facilities have largely been closed, leaving those still in work facing the impossible task of balancing work with childcare and home schooling. These challenges are particularly acute for low-income families. This new report from CPAG and the Church of England offers an important insight into the day-to-day struggles that families have been dealing with, as well as their strength and resilience in managing such an array of challenges on a limited income.
To understand the impact of child poverty on the lives of children and families in England better, CPAG, the Child Welfare Inequalities Project (CWIP) and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) conducted a survey of social workers between January and March 2020 to ask them about the experiences of the families they work with.
This report has been developed by the A Different Take London panel. We are a group of children, young people and parents with experience of living on a low income, and people from Child Poverty Action Group and the University of Leeds. Between January–June 2019 we have been discussing our own experiences and priorities and talking to the people in our communities, to develop our own agenda around the most important issues affecting the lives of people in poverty and what we think should be done about them.
Secure Futures for Children and Families will ask the question: What does a social security system that provides a secure future for children and families look like? This launch paper sets out where the social security system is now and what needs to change.
CPAG in Scotland responded to the Scottish Government's consultation on improving temporary accommodation standards to highlight the need to incorporate the impact of social security changes into guidance on the standards.
Financial support to low income families to pay for childcare through working tax credits is being replaced by the childcare element of universal credit. This Early Warning System report examines the impact of this change on parents and childcare providers.
This report presents case studies and analysis from CPAG’s Early Warning System to highlight problems with the information provided to people claiming universal credit.
CPAG's early warning system takes the temperature of how changes to benefits are affecting families by highlighting the most problematic issues which advisers around the country are seeing. The latest update reveals ongoing problems with people being wrongly directed to universal credit and people moving to universal credit and becoming significantly worse off, as well as a number of problems with specific elements of universal credit: housing costs, real time information, access to appeal rights, and failure to adequately meet support needs.