Together for Children

Sign In
 
SearchforGo SearchAdvanced Search
Home
TfC Products
Case Studies
DCSF Support
Resource Shelf
Events
Sure Start
CC Leader Network
  
Together for Children > Topics > ChildPoverty  


Child Poverty


It is estimated that 3.8 million children, nearly 1 in 3, are currently living in poverty in the UK; one of the highest rates in the industrialised world.  Poverty can have a profound impact on the child, their family, and the rest of society. It often sets in motion a deepening spiral of social exclusion, creating problems in education, employment, mental and physical health and social interaction.
 

 What's New

Think Family Pathfinders: Research Update
11/03/2010

For Lead Member for Children's Services, Local Authorities, Parents. March 2010

Source: Think Family Pathfinders: Research Update

Children in need in childcare
08/03/2010

Ofsted report

Source: Children in need in childcare

Local Authority Child Poverty Innovation Pilot
05/03/2010

First National Evaluation Report - Child Poverty Unit

Source: Local Authority Child Poverty Innovation Pilot
Housing
 
Child poverty is often influenced by housing issues and concerns where perhaps unsuitable or temporary accomodation or the threat of homelessness can affect a child's long term prospects.
 
Sure Start Children's Centres can be a crucial focus point in the early stages of identifying housing issues in a community or a specific problem within a case family. As well as general advice on housing options and benefits, a children's centre may also find specific cases where resources are required on such important issues as housing rights and preventing homelessness.
 
The TfC Housing section containing resources, advice and information for children's centres to support those facing housing issues large or small. See Related Links on the right for access.
 
 

 Child Poverty News

Government refuses to update overcrowded housing definition
04/03/2010

Shelter has accused the government of letting down children living in poor housing by refusing to overhaul its antiquated definition of overcrowding. The housing charity presented a 2,000-signature petition to the government calling for it to update its legal definition of overcrowded housing that dates back to 1935. Shelter says this is hopelessly out of date as it fails to count babies under the age of one as householders, counts children under 10 as a half a person and considers kitchens and living rooms as suitable places to sleep.

Source: Children & Young People Daily Bulletin

Grandparents in low-income families risk financial hardship to provide free childcare
02/03/2010

New report from Grandparents Plus and the Equality and Human Rights Commission Grandparents who are filling the ‘care gap’ in some of Britain’s most vulnerable families are risking hardship themselves, a new report from Grandparents Plus and the Equality and Human Rights Commission reveals. The report “Protect, Support, Provide” highlights that grandparents in families most at risk of poverty are under increasing pressure to take on a caring role. It shows that working age, working class grandmothers on low incomes are most likely to be providing childcare and to have given up work or reduced their hours to care for grandchildren. This has an impact on household income and may have an effect on a grandparent’s pension rights as well as their health.

Source: Grand Parents Plus

Children from poorer families almost a school-year behind
15/02/2010

Children who are among the poorest in the UK are nearly a year behind middle-class children in terms of their language abilities. A report from the Sutton Trust, an educational charity, found children among the poorest fifth of UK families are 11.1 months behind other children, tested by vocabulary, by the time they reach the age of five. The charity found good parenting and a supportive home environment emerged as the most important determinants of better test scores at age five, accounting for half of the explained gap between low-income and middle-income children.

Source: inthenews.co.uk

Campaigners call for 'Robin Hood tax' to cut child poverty
09/02/2010

Barnardo's, Save the Children and the National Union of Teachers are among almost 50 organisations calling for a "Robin Hood tax" on banks' financial transactions. The coalition wants the leaders of the UK’s political parties to support a global tax on transactions between financial institutions to protect public services, fight poverty, help foot the bill for climate change and repair the damage caused by the recession.

Source: Children & Young People Daily Bulletin

Disadvantaged families are failing to access childcare
29/01/2010

The most disadvantaged families in the UK are failing to access childcare even when it is offered to them for free, according to a government report. The Department for Children, Schools and Families-commissioned report Families Experiencing Multiple Disadvantage: Their Use of and Views on Childcare Provision, found that just 60 per cent of pre-school age children living in the poorest families received some form of childcare. This compares with a national average of 73 per cent. Among children from more affluent backgrounds the figure is 81 per cent.

Source: Children & Young People Daily Bulletin

 Related Links
  Support Documents
  Other Useful Documents
  Case Studies
  Housing Section
Copyright © 2006 Together For Children. All Rights Reserved. Useful Links | About Us | Site Map | Contact Us