Work can worsen child poverty - report
By Dominic Casciani
BBC News Online community affairs reporter

The fortunes of some of the poorest children in the UK may be worsened if
their parents move from welfare into work, a report suggests.

A major study of 4,000 of the poorest British children throughout the 1990s
has found a fifth of the worst-off families were those with adults in work
rather than on benefits.

The report, by charity Save the Children, urges the government to develop
more flexible benefits in order to hit its target to cut child poverty in
half by 2010.

In 1999 the government said it was prioritising child poverty by
introducing measures such as family tax credits.

Million in severe poverty

According to the charity, almost one in 10 British children experienced the
worst forms of poverty during the 1990s - approximately one million
children.


SEVERE CHILD POVERTY INDICATORS
Below 40% of median British income entering child's household
Children go without necessities such as three meals a day, a warm winter
coat or own pair of shoes
Parents go without at least two such necessities
Source: Poverty and Social Exclusion Survey
But the report found children whose parents yo-yo between work and
unemployment often live in worse conditions than those whose parents are
constantly out of work.
Parents in short-term work could find themselves worse off because they
suffered a dramatic fall in income - and a delay in benefits - once that
job ended.

In a small number of cases families would actually have been less
impoverished had the parents not tried to find jobs, the figures suggest.

Family instability

This constant switching between benefits and short-term jobs exacerbated
family instability, income, housing security and general well-being, said
the authors.


In turn, children suffered crises in confidence, were more likely to be
bullied, missed out on activities others took for granted and went without
basics such as warm winter coats, stout shoes and proper meals.
Sue Middleton, director of the Centre for Research in Social Policy and
co-author of the report, said: "The government was right to take up child
poverty as a major issue.

"But one of the main problems is where they experience change in their
lives this can lead to severe poverty."

Ms Middleton said that if the UK wanted to have a flexible labour market,
then it also needed a flexible benefits system.


"There is some evidence that a very few people might have been better off
[not taking work]," said Ms Middleton.
"Our concern is whether the government can meet the targets without
focusing on those in the most severe poverty."

Madeleine Terse, of Save the Children, said if the government wanted to
tackle poverty, then it had to start with the poorest - and this may
require more specific policies.

She called on ministers to look specifically at the Social Fund.


HAVE YOUR SAY
What is needed is benefits to be phased out as earnings increase, gently
going from receiving benefits to paying tax.
Jonathan Kelk, UK

Introduced in 1988, the fund has long been opposed by child poverty
campaigners.

It provides loans for essential basics such as fridges - but then reclaims
the money by deducting it from benefits.

Furthermore, the fund is capped each year meaning that it can run out in
some areas but not others.

Ms Terse said: "Clearly it is not working as it should be at present. The
social fund can't cope with the level of demand and it is imposing
additional debt."

In July, Chancellor Gordon Brown announced he would be looking at child
poverty policies in the run-up to next year's spending review that sets
priorities for the rest of the government's term.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/3199665.stm

Published: 2003/09/02 10:13:51 GMT

© BBC MMIII

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