Achieving Our Potential?: Tackling Poverty During the Recession

1. Achieving Our Potential?: Tackling Poverty During the Recession January – March 2009

2. Achieving Our Potential ?Tackling Poverty During the Recession • Introduction • Current trends in poverty – where we have got to, and the challenge ahead • Achieving Our Potential – an adequate response to poverty in Scotland? • Tackling Poverty in Recession – what can be done?

3. About the Poverty Alliance • A Scotland-wide independent network of groups, organisations and individuals working together to tackle poverty • Focus on working alongside people in poverty to ensure their experience is heard by policy makers • Lobbying and campaigning for change: current focus on living wages, welfare reform and child poverty

4. Current Trends in Tackling Poverty Where have we got to in the fight against poverty? • Focus on 2 key areas • Income • Out of work poverty • ‘In-work’ poverty • Income Inequality

5. Incomes: out of work– Key Issues • Inadequacy of out of work incomes • Large decline in pensioner poverty but trend slowing • Decline in child poverty has stopped in Scotland over the last three years and risen in UK • Poverty amongst working age adults without children increased over last 10 years • Now single largest group of poor people. Their welfare benefit values have declined by 20% relative to wages since 1997

6. Incomes

7. Incomes

8. Incomes out of work

9. Incomes & In-Work poverty – Key Messages • Rise of ‘in-work’ poverty • 50% of children in poverty are in working households • More working age adults in poverty are in work than out of work • Most of increase of ‘in-work’ poverty has been amongst those without dependent children • Labour market ‘churn’ 50% of people making new JSA claim were claiming 6 months before. Same as decade ago • ‘Work first’ approach is failing some groups esp. childless adults

10. Incomes & In-Work poverty

11. Incomes & In-Work poverty

12. Incomes & In-Work poverty

13. Income Inequality • The poorest tenth of the population have, around 2% of Scotland's total income, second poorest tenth have 4½%.  • The richest tenth have 27% and the second richest tenth have 15%.  • Scottish Government's new focus on the bottom 30% (Solidarity Target) should benefit pensioners and lower-income workingfamilies.

14. Income Inequality

15. Inequality: Bottom 30% Bottom 30%

16. Achieving Our Potential “The Framework sets out further priorities for action and investment to deliver improvement in four areas” • Reducing income inequalities • Introducing longer term measures to tackle poverty and the drives of low income • Supporting those experiencing poverty or at risk of falling into poverty • Making the tax and benefits system work better for Scotland

17. 1. Reducing income inequalities • Maximising the potential for people to work • by removing barriers to work including provision of accessible child care • financial literacy skills during the transition to work; develop plans for employability for BME communities • Maximising Income for All • New income max programme in 2009-10, 2010-2011 • Focus on older people and other key groups • Additional £7million funding • Do the actions match the rhetoric?

18. 2. Longer term measures to tackle poverty • Providing children with the best start • Supporting broader efforts to deal with health inequalities • Promoting equality and tackling discrimination • Affordable housing • Regenerating disadvantaged communities

19. 3. Supporting those experiencing poverty • Create a fairer local taxation system • Address fuel poverty • Introduce the new Energy Assistance Package for people on low incomes; press UK Government to do more on winter fuel allowance and on social tariffs; • Promote financial inclusion & address stigma

20. 4. Making the Tax and Benefits System Work Better for Scotland • System must be fair, transparent and sympathetic to those in poverty. • Financial benefits of working must be significant and sustainable. • Transitional support must be responsive, quick and effective. • Benefits must provide a standard of living which supports dignity, freedom and social unity. • Administration must be swift, streamlined and customer focused.

21. 1. Reducing Income Inequalities: Making Work Pay

22. Recession and Poverty: Key Questions • How do we keep the current anti-poverty agenda relevant during the recession? • Does the rhetoric match the reality? • What actions do we need ?

23. Achieving Our Potential?: Tackling Poverty During the Recession January – March 2009

24. Assessing Our Potential Key Strengths: • Recognition that low income is at the heart of the experience of poverty • Understanding that income inequality is problematic in itself, not merely a benign outcome of the market • Identifies a range of clear, practical actions that can be delivered by local and national government, and by the voluntary sector • Strong on the structural causes of poverty • Makes important statements in relation to the way the benefit system should operate

25. Assessing Our Potential Key Weaknesses: • No recognition of impact of recession • Few new resources • Little recognition of the importance of place • Very weak monitoring and evaluation processes • Too many actions/plans still to be developed • Pick and mix approach to policy development • No timescales for review

26. Responding to the Recession • The Scale of the Recession in Scotland • Growing view that Scotland will be hit harder than UK • Net job losses of 37,000 in 2009 and 16,000 in 2010 • Total job losses could exceed 160,000 in 2009 • Both service and manufacturing sectors will be hit

27. Recession and Poverty: Some areas for action • A review of JSA benefit levels as part of ‘fiscal stimulus’ • Benefit maximization campaigns coordinated by UK & Scottish Government • Revision of the 16 hour rule to enable more people to undertake training whilst receiving benefits • Support for apprentices facing redundancy

28. Recession and Poverty: Some areas for action • Moratorium on elements of current welfare reform programme • Increased investment into voluntary sector and social economy • Increase in the national minimum wage • Action to support a living wage in key sectors of the economy