Poverty as measured by material deprivation through lack of economic resources remains absolutely central to understanding the causation of most aspects of social exclusion and a range of social outcomes, concludes the 2nd of the two-volume PSE-UK study.
The PSE team have published the results of the Northern Ireland PSE survey research, the findings of the PSE UK qualitative research in Northern Ireland and the methodolgy and impact of the PSE community collaboration project in the following publications and journal papers.
Books 'Child Poverty in Northern Ireland: Results from the Poverty and Social Exclusion Study' by Mike Tomlinson, Paddy Hillyard and Grace KellyIn 'Beneath the Surface: Child Poverty in Northern Ireland', (pp. 11-34, Chapter 2) Belfast: Child Poverty Alliance (2014)
Summary
Read the Journal papers coming from the PSE research. The latest paper examines how analyses of the micro paradata ‘by-products’ from the 1967/1968 Poverty in the United Kingdom (PinUK) and 2012 Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK (PSE) surveys highlight changes in the conditions of survey production over this 45 year period in the latest output from the PSE research.
Comparing people’s actual living standards with the minimum standards which the public thinks everyone should have, there are in Scotland:
• almost one million people cannot afford adequate housing conditions
• 800,000 people are too poor to engage in common social activities
• over a quarter of a million children and adults aren’t properly fed.
This conceptual note explores work, paid and unpaid, looks at how the PSE research can examine the impact of the trend to an economy based on higher levels of low pay and insecurity and the impact of this on the extent to which paid work reduces poverty. The PSE also explores the quality of work in terms of aspects such as job security, control, flexibility, physical and social environment, anti-social hours and overall satisfaction. And finally the PSE study explores unpaid work and captures estimates of time spend on various forms of unpaid work covering work in the house, caring and voluntary work.
Changes in the number of jobless households don't explain very much of the diversity in poverty rates in Europe during the economic upswing prior to 2008, according to a new paper from Eurostat, the EU's statistical body.
The paper examines the distribution of individual jobs between households in EU countries, the link between individual employment rates and household employment rates, and the relationship between employment (at both levels of aggregation) and poverty.
High childcare costs mean that having a full-time job is no longer worthwhile for many second earners in families on middle and low incomes, according to the Resolution think-tank. Its report calls for a major change in the childcare system to ensure work is always worthwhile.
Wage moderation, pay freezes and sometimes pay cuts have been experienced in most EU member states in recent years, according to a report. The global crisis has hit vulnerable groups particularly hard.
The study, by a Dublin-based research group, examines the relationship between trends in earnings and working conditions in Europe since the crisis of 2008–2010.
‘Hidden’ workers employed by public service contractors are often trapped in low-paid, insecure jobs where being badly treated is a normal part of working life, according to a trade union report.
The report summarises a two-year project to help the workers involved.
Key findings As many as 1 in 4 people working in public services (around 1.2 million in total) are now employed by private contractors. Many are migrant workers. Outsourced workers often face poor working conditions and have only limited knowledge of their employment rights. Vulnerability and insecurity make workers scared to challenge abuse of their employment rights. Trade unions have a clear role in countering unrestrained managerial power and restoring the dignity of vulnerable workers.Source: The Hidden Workforce, UNISON
Link: Report
Government guidance has been published on how to help families, parents and children overcome the causes and consequences of disadvantage and poverty. It is based on evaluation evidence from the child poverty pilots conducted between 2009 and 2011.
The guidance is aimed at local authorities and their partner organisations in the voluntary, community and private sectors. It includes materials developed by practitioners delivering the pilot activities.