Dec 9, 2008
Monitoring Poverty
The report Monitoring poverty and social exclusion 2008 by the New Policy Institute commissioned and published by the Joseph Rowntree Trust uses 56 statistics measuring the State of poverty and social exclusion over the last 10 years and reports the progress over the last five and previous five years as show in this table.
| Theme | Subject | Over first five years | Over last five years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low income | Total number of people in low-income households | Improved | Steady |
| Total number of people in very low-income households | Steady | Worsened | |
| Total number of people living below a fixed low-income threshold | Improved | Steady | |
| Low income (social security) | Low-income households who are paying full council tax | Worsened | Worsened |
| Debt | Repossessions, and court orders for repossessions | Improved | Worsened |
| More than twelve months in arrears with their mortgage | Improved | Steady | |
| Economic circumstances (low income) | Children in low-income households | Improved | Steady |
| Economic circumstances (work) | Children in workless households | Improved | Steady |
| Children in working families needing tax credits to avoid low income | Steady | Worsened | |
| Education | 11-year-olds failing to reach Level 4 at Key Stage 2 | Improved | Improved |
| 16-year-olds failing to get five or more GCSEs at A to C | Improved | Improved | |
| 16-year-olds failing to get five or more GCSEs at any level | Improved | Steady | |
| Social cohesion | Children permanently excluded from school | Improved | Steady |
| Looked-after children failing to get five or more GCSEs | Improved | Improved | |
| Pregnancies among girls aged under 16 | Steady | Steady | |
| Children cautioned for, or guilty of, an indictable offence | Improved | Worsened | |
| Health and well-being | Proportion of live births born weighing less than 2.5kg | Steady | Steady |
| Infant deaths | Improved | Improved | |
| Economic circumstances (low income) | Young adults in low-income households | Steady | Worsened | Economic circumstances (work) | Young adult unemployment | Improved | Worsened | 18- to 21-year-olds who are low paid relative to average (median) earnings | Steady | Steady | Education | 16- to 19-year-olds not in education, training or work | Steady | Worsened | 19-year-olds lacking a Level 2 qualification | Steady | Improved |
| Economic circumstances (low income) | Working-age adults in low-income working families | Steady | Worsened |
| Working-age adults in low-income workless families | Improved | Steady | |
| Economic circumstances (work) | Working-age adults lacking but wanting paid work | Improved | Steady |
| Working-age, workless households | Improved | Steady | |
| Disabled working-age adults in work | Steady | Steady | |
| Social security | Value of out-of-work benefits for pensioners, relative to earnings | Improved | Steady |
| Value of out-of-work benefits for families with dependent children, relative to earnings | Improved | Steady | |
| Value of out-of-work benefits for working-age adults without dependent children, relative to earnings | Worsened | Worsened | |
| Working-age adults receiving out-of-work benefits for two or more years | Steady | Steady | |
| Disadvantage in work | Working-age adults who are low paid relative to average (median) earnings | Steady | Steady |
| New claimants of Jobseeker’s Allowance last claiming less than six months earlier | Improved | Worsened | |
| Pay gap between low-paid women and male median earnings | Improved | Improved | |
| Pay gap between low-paid men and male median earnings | Steady | Steady | |
| Pay gap between high-paid men and women and male median earnings | Worsened | Worsened | |
| Health and well-being | Deaths among those aged under 65 | Improved | Improved |
| Working-age adults aged 45 to 64 reporting a long-standing illness/disÂability | Improved | Steady | |
| Working-age adults at high risk of mental illness | Improved | Steady | |
| Economic circumstances (low income) | Single pensioners in low-income households | Improved | Improved |
| Pensioner couples in low-income households | Steady | Improved | |
| Economic circumstances (social security) | Pensioners not taking up benefits to which they are entitled | Worsened | Worsened |
| Health and well-being | Pensioners reporting a long-standing illness/disability | Steady | Steady |
| People aged 60 and over who feel very unsafe going out alone at night | Steady | Improved | |
| Access to services | People aged 75 and over helped by social services to live at home | Worsened | Worsened |
| Low-income households without a bank account | Improved | Improved | |
| Low-income households without home contents insurance | Steady | Steady | |
| Housing | Households newly recognised as homeless | Worsened | Improved |
| Homeless households in temporary accommodation | Worsened | Steady | |
| Individuals and households in overcrowded accommodation | Steady | Steady | |
| Non-decent homes | Improved | Improved | |
| Households in fuel poverty | Improved | Worsened | |
| Social cohesion | Geographic spread of claimants of out-of-work benefits | Steady | Steady |
| Adult victims of burglary or violent crime | Improved | Improved | |
| Worried about being a victim of burglary or violent crime | Improved | Steady |
The report concludes that many of the government’s initiatives have stalled and the government needs to review policy. I still contend that some policies such as SureStart are long term and their effects are still to filter though to these measures.
Dan Paskini has a different take on the figures.
So to supplement their analysis, it is interesting to look at those indicators which are the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions, and to use the cut off point as September 2004. The DWP is, after all, the government department which spends the largest amount of money on trying to reduce poverty.
Between 1998 and 2004, the DWP and its predecessor, the Department for Social Security, were headed by Alastair Darling and Andrew Smith, key allies of Gordon Brown. In September 2004, Andrew Smith resigned and control over the DWP passed to a series of supporters of Tony Blair – Alan Johnson, David Blunkett, John Hutton, (Peter Hain) and now James Purnell. From 2006, its work was supplemented by the Social Exclusion Task Force.
It is therefore possible to compare the two approaches – the “Brownite” approach under Darling and Smith, which was based around higher benefits plus improved state-provided services to help people into work, as opposed to the “Blairite” approach which emphasises a greater role for the private sector in delivering services for targeted “hard to reach” groups, together with emphasis on the need for poor individuals to take greater personal responsibility for getting out of poverty.
Of the 32 indicators which DWP policies were primarily responsible for affecting, under Darling and Smith 17 improved, 11 stayed steady, and 4 got worse. After the “Brownites” lost control of the DWP and the “Blairite” approach was tried instead, 4 improved, 17 stayed steady and 11 got worse.
Which is an endorsement of Brown’s policies however as Dan writes, one reason for the poor performance after 2004 was Brown turned his attentions and spending priorities away from reducing poverty and on to other causes. Now how can we get Brown to turn his attentions back?
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