News stories archive

The News stories archive provides summaries of the main stories on poverty, social exclusion, inequality and social mobility in the UK from 2011 to 2014, the period of the PSE UK project. Some major stories from outside the UK are also included.

You can search the archive by entering "news stories" plus the subject in the search box above.

Displaying 1 - 10 of 45

  • 19/09/14

    Scottish poverty study calls on Governments to tackle rising deprivation

    The percentage of households falling below society's minimum standard of living has increased from 14% to 33% over the last 30 years, despite the size of the economy doubling. In Scotland today, when we compare people's actual living standards with the minimum standards which the public thinks everyone should have, we find that:

    Subjects: Poverty measurement, Scotland
    Category: News stories
  • 19/06/14

    PSE team calls on government to tackle rising deprivation

    The results of the largest ever study into poverty and social exclusion show rising levels of deprivation and that parents sacrifice their own welfare to protect their children. Read the full press release for the 2014 Townsend Memorial conference held in London on June 19 and 20, 2014.

    Subjects: Poverty measurement
    Category: News stories
  • 19/03/14

    Benefits bill capped at £119 billion

    Total spending on most benefits and tax credits will be capped at £119.5 billion in 2015-16, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced in his 2014 Budget speech.
     
    The so-called 'welfare cap' was originally proposed in the 2013 Spending Round. It excludes spending on state pensions and 'automatic stabilisers' (mainly jobseeker's allowance and its passported housing benefit). The level of the cap will rise in line with forecast inflation to £122 billion in 2016-17, £124.6 billion in 2017-18 and £126.7 billion in 2018-19.
     

    Subjects: Benefit cap, Public spending
    Category: News stories
  • 04/03/14

    Scotland faces ‘humanitarian crisis’ caused by poverty

    A new campaign aimed at highlighting the 'humanitarian crisis' caused by poverty in Scotland has been launched by a group of charities.
     
    The campaign will seek to raise awareness of the scale and impact of poverty on people living in Scotland.
     
    Organisations behind the 'Scotland's Outlook' campaign include Macmillan, Shelter Scotland, Oxfam, Alzheimer Scotland, Children’s Hospice Association Scotland, the Child Poverty Action Group, the Poverty Alliance and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO).
     

    Subjects: Scotland
    Category: News stories
  • 04/03/14

    ‘Hard to know’ why people use foodbanks – minister

    A coalition government minister has claimed it is ‘very hard to know' why people go to foodbanks.
     
    The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Lord Freud, said in the House of Lords: 'On the issue of food banks... which we have discussed several times in this House, clearly nobody goes to a food bank willingly. However, it is very hard to know why people go to them'.
     

    Subjects: Food poverty
    Category: News stories
  • 03/03/14

    1 in 3 councils supporting foodbanks

    Local councils in England and Wales have spent nearly £3 million over the last two years on tackling food poverty, an investigation has revealed. Well over a third of all councils – 140 out of 323 responding – told a survey for the BBC's Panorama programme that they have subsidised foodbanks.
     
    Both the Trussell Trust (the largest network of food banks) and Citizens Advice told the BBC the main causes of the rise in demand are problems with benefits, low income and debt.
     
    Source: Hungry Britain?, Panorama, BBC One, 3 March 2014

    Subjects: Food poverty
    Category: News stories
  • 25/02/14

    Commission calls for 3 per cent minimum wage rise

    The Low Pay Commission has recommended a 3 per cent rise in the statutory minimum wage from 1 October 2014, lifting the main adult hourly rate from £6.31 to £6.50. Given the current inflation forecast of 2.3 per cent, this would represent a small real-terms increase – the first such increase for five years.
     
    In a letter to the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, the Commission said the recommended rise would mean the number of jobs covered by the minimum wage would increase by over a third, to one and a quarter million.
     

    Subjects: Low pay, Minimum wage
    Category: News stories
  • 19/02/14

    Bishops condemn benefits reforms

    Twenty-seven Church of England bishops have signed a letter condemning the coalition government's benefits reforms, which they say have forced people into food and fuel poverty.

    In an open letter to the Prime Minister, published in the Daily Mirror to mark the beginning of Lent, the bishops  – along with 16 representatives of other Churches – said that too many people were having to choose between 'heat or eat' as a result of 'cut backs and failures in the benefit system'.

    Subjects: Benefits
    Category: News stories
  • 17/02/14

    Benefit reform effects a ‘disgrace’ – senior Catholic

    Britain's most senior Catholic cleric has described the effects of the coalition government's benefits reforms as a 'disgrace', and said the changes have removed even the most basic safety net for those threatened by poverty. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, said the system has become more 'punitive', leaving people with nothing if they fail to fill in forms correctly.

    Subjects: Benefits
    Category: News stories
  • 14/02/14

    Plans to change child poverty measurement ‘shelved’

    Plans by the coalition government to change how child poverty is officially measured have had to be shelved due to deadlock in a row between the Treasury and the Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, according to a report in the Guardian newspaper.
     

    Subjects: Child poverty, Poverty measurement
    Category: News stories