Child Poverty in Bexley a Briefing for London's Councillors
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Child poverty in Bexley A briefing for London’s councillors Autumn 2018 Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Rates of child poverty .............................................................................................................................. 5 Low pay ................................................................................................................................................. 11 Employment .......................................................................................................................................... 14 Housing ................................................................................................................................................. 16 Crisis prevention and support ............................................................................................................... 20 Council tax and recouping costs ............................................................................................................ 24 Early years and childcare ....................................................................................................................... 27 Education, schools and life chances ...................................................................................................... 30 Sources of support for your constituents .............................................................................................. 34 Staying in touch ..................................................................................................................................... 35 2 Introduction There were 4.1 million children living in poverty in the UK in 2015-16.i That’s 30 per cent of children, or 9 in a classroom of 30. Projections indicate that under current policies this is likely to rise to 5.2 million by 2021-22.ii When kids grow up poor they miss out – and so do the rest of us. They miss out on the things most children take for granted: warm clothes, school trips, having friends over for tea. They do less well at school and earn less as adults. Different regions face differing child poverty rates, related to differences in labour market characteristics and the cost of housing. London has the highest child poverty rate of all UK regions and this is expected to remain the case over the coming years. However some other regions are expected to see more rapid increases. Child poverty rates by region, actual and projected to 2019-21 Region 2006-2008 2013-2015 2019-2021 North East 34.5% 28.2% 39.7% North West 33.2% 30.3% 38.2% Yorkshire & Humber 31.6% 29.2% 37.0% East Midlands 29.3% 28.6% 36.2% West Midlands 35.4% 32.8% 40.8% East of England 26.2% 25.1% 31.8% London 40.2% 36.5% 41.5% South East 26.4% 24.8% 28.9% South West 26.3% 25.9% 31.6% Wales 32.1% 29.7% 39.2% Scotland 24.6% 23.2% 29.0% Northern Ireland 24.8% 25.7% 34.6% UK 30.8% 28.8% 35.6% Source: Institute for Fiscal Studies, Living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK: 2017-18 to 2021-22 (2017); taken from CPAG, Child Poverty in London Westminster Hall debate: Parliamentary Briefing (February 2018) Poverty in London has its own particular characteristics. Economically, London is a wealthy city but that wealth is not shared by all. While the richest 10% of London’s households own 50% of the capital’s wealth, the poorest 50% of Londoners own just 5% of the city’s wealth. London’s children are more likely to grow up in poverty than contemporaries elsewhere in the UK – indeed, 37% of London’s children (that’s 700,000) live in poverty after housing costs are taken into account.iii London has the highest rate of child poverty of any English region – and there are as many poor children in London as in all of Scotland and Wales.iv There is often an assumption that work is a guaranteed route out of poverty but, because of low pay, high costs of childcare and insecure work, two thirds of children living in poverty live in a household where at least one parent works. Child poverty is a problem for society, not just because of the human costs. A child living in poverty will, on average, develop slower than contemporaries, do less well at school, have poorer physical and 3 mental health, and will generally have reduced life chances than wealthier contemporaries, including reduced earning power over their lifetime. We all love and want the best for our children, but living on a low income makes it more difficult for families to provide everything their children need to succeed. Research at the London School of Economics has robustly demonstrated a causal link between low income and worse child outcomes – it is poverty itself which damages children’s life chances; conversely, when families’ incomes increase, children do better.v Poverty is damaging. It damages childhoods; it damages life chances; and it damages communities. In 2013 it was estimated that child poverty costs the UK at least £29 billion each year, in services and in wasted potential.vi Conversely, investing in children is one of the best investments we could make as a country. The link between child poverty and ill health is well-established. Views From The Frontline, a joint CPAG and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health report published in May 2017, found that paediatricians are seeing the effects of poverty on children’s health every day in their practices, and that they believe it is getting worse. Indeed, in 2013, it was estimated that child poverty costs the country £1.5billion each year through the increased need for acute healthcare.vii Trust for London has shown that 58% of Londoners in poverty live in a working family, where at least one person works. This equates to 1.3 million people - a 50% increase over the last decade. In London, wages have flat-lined and failed to keep pace with the capital’s soaring cost of living. On top of this there is a shortage of family-friendly jobs and affordable, high quality flexible childcare. At the same time, around £27bn a year has been taken out of social security spending since 2010, which means less money in the pockets of low-income families and less being spent in local economies. Most benefits for working-age families have been frozen, drastically reducing families’ real incomes, and cuts to universal credit mean that it will not deliver on its promise to make work pay or reduce child poverty. In fact, child benefit, a lifeline for families, is set to lose 23 per cent of its value this decade.viii Trust for London has made it clear that the cost of housing is the main factor explaining London’s higher poverty rates compared with other parts of the country. London’s housing costs are soaring, and more and more children across the capital are becoming homeless as too many of London’s families (both in and out of work) do not have access to affordable, secure, quality housing. More people in poverty live in the private rented sector than any other housing tenure and the number of children living in poverty in private rented accommodation has tripled in the last decade. Furthermore, seven in ten households in temporary accommodation in England are in London. Over 80% of these households include children.ix This briefing pack provides an overview of child poverty and related issues and you will also find a breakdown of the child poverty rate in your ward, and how it compares to the rest of the borough, and the rest of London. We hope this pack proves useful for your work supporting low income families and children in your area. 4 Rates of child poverty A child is living in relative poverty if living in a household with below 60 per cent of contemporary median income, according to government measurements. End Child Poverty statistics The following information for your borough has been calculated by the University of Loughborough and published by the End Child Poverty (ECP) coalition in 2018, after housing costs have been taken in to account: http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/poverty-in-your-area-2018/ Percentage of children in poverty, July-Sept 2017 AFTER HOUSING COSTS Local Authority and wards Number of children % Bexley 13,437 24.34% Barnehurst 432 19.45% Belvedere 1,002 30.28% Blackfen and Lamorbey 342 14.76% Blendon and Penhill 375 15.79% Brampton 262 12.77% Christchurch 450 19.48% Colyers 669 25.34% Crayford 815 26.59% Cray Meadows 723 26.83% Danson Park 430 18.65% East Wickham 513 21.49% Erith 1,105 32.44% Falconwood and Welling 340 14.38% Lesnes Abbey 858 31.16% Longlands 310 16.08% North End 1,395 37.20% Northumberland Heath 566 22.03% St Mary's 276 13.11% St Michael's 651 24.05% Sidcup 329 16.66% Thamesmead East 1,424 35.82% The End Child Poverty coalition, 2018 release - http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/poverty-in-your-area-2018/ 5 Consider how these percentages and numbers compare to those across London, according to the two maps below, also compiled using ECP data. Data from End Child Poverty coalition, 2018: http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/poverty-in-your-area-2018/ 6 Data from End Child Poverty coalition, 2018: http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/poverty-in-your-area-2018/ 7 Other poverty-related indicators Trust for London’s ‘London Poverty Profile’, compiled with the New Policy Institute also provides a wealth of information, from over one hundred indicators, revealing patterns in poverty and inequality from across the capital. This overview map provides a sense of the extent of inequality across London. Source: