The current cost of living is pushing more people into poverty, with almost 68% of low income...
Necessities
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18/12/2012
Bill to encourage ‘responsible’ spending by claimants
Legislation is being proposed that would force claimants to use benefit money for 'responsible' spending only. The Conservative MP behind the Welfare Cash Card Bill, Alec Shelbrooke, is acting in a personal capacity – although he also serves as a junior government minister.
Under the Bill, a 'welfare cash card' would be introduced to replace cash payments for most benefits. The card would allow claimants to make only priority purchases such as food, clothing, energy, travel and housing. The purchase of so-called 'luxury' goods such as cigarettes, alcohol, gambling and satellite television subscriptions would be prohibited.
Speaking in Parliament, Shelbrooke said:
Category: News stories -
14/12/2012
Poorest households hit by soaring food prices
The poorest UK households are being disproportionately hit by the impact of soaring food prices, according to a new government report containing more detailed statistics than previously available on income groups. It also shows that the consumption of every major nutrient has fallen in the last four years since world food prices began to rise.
Category: Reports -
11/10/2012
Improved measures of material deprivation in EU
Improvements have been proposed in the way material deprivation is measured in European Union countries. The changes are designed to aid the monitoring of social objectives at both national and EU levels.
Researchers have put forward a new material deprivation indicator for the whole EU population, and also a child-specific indicator (for those aged 1–15). Their work draws on data collected in the 2009 wave of EU-SILC (European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions). 'Material deprivation' is based on the affordability of a selection of items (goods or services) considered to be necessary or desirable for people to have an 'acceptable' standard of living in the country where they live.
Category: Reports -
12/09/2012
Young People and the Legacies of Conflict, Mike Tomlinson
This paper, presented to the ASITIS Children of Conflict Conference on 26 March 2012, addresses the question of what has the Northern Ireland conflict got to do with the challenges we face in addressing the needs, rights and opportunities of our young people today, especially those who are out of work and detached from education and training.
Category: -
11/09/2012
Poor Britain
In Poor Britain (1985) Joanna Mack and Stewart Lansley set out the ‘consensual’ approach to poverty pioneered in the 1983 Breadline Britain survey. They introduce the concept of ‘socially perceived necessities’ and distinguish between those who lack necessities from choice and those who can’t afford them. They define poverty as ‘an enforced lack of socially perceived necessities’. Poor Britain is now out of print but you can download this influential book by clicking on the links below. We have provided both the full book, 324 pages, as one PDF, and each chapter and appendices as separate PDFs for download.
Copyright remains with J.H. Mack and S. Lansley. Please cite ‘J. Mack and S. Lansley (1985) Poor Britain, London, George Allen & Unwin’ if quoting from this book.
Poor Britain: whole book
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04/09/2012
£143,000 needed for child's minimum needs
The total cost of meeting the minimum basic needs of a child from birth to age 18 is £143,000, according to a new estimate. This equates to around £150 per week, averaged for a child across all ages and including childcare costs and housing.
The calculation, produced for the Child Poverty Action Group, is not based on what families actually spend on their children, but instead on detailed research into the cost of a minimum basket of goods and services that allows families to participate in society.
Category: Reports -
31/08/2012
Perceived necessities of life ‘strikingly consistent’
'Striking' consistency is found in the things that different groups of people perceive to be the 'necessities of life' in the UK today, according to a new study. The working paper – part of the Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK project – used focus groups to examine people's perceptions of poverty, social exclusion and living standards.
Category: Reports -
24/08/2012
Fear of poverty ‘unchanged’ from century ago
People’s concerns over the affordability of basic essentials are much the same as they were 100 years ago, a survey has found.
The Salvation Army commissioned a survey looking at whether social issues for families have changed from those identified a century ago around the time social reformer William Booth died.
Category: News stories -
22/08/2012
Defining the Breadline: Is there a Northern Ireland Consensus? by Mike Tomlinson and Grace Kelly
The paper and presentation, presented to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 26 April 2012, report the findings of the Necessities of Life survey 2011 in Northern Ireland. The survey found a remarkable degree of consensus in respondents’ attitudes to necessities, between social groups and categories across income, occupation, community background and gender; though there are some significant differences, especially between young and old.
The results show that what most people think are necessities leads to a different set of indicators than those built into current deprivation rates (such as the EU measure). Mike Tomlinson’s contribution can be seen on the Northern Ireland Assembly website.
Category: Presentation -
17/08/2012
Lack of necessities
Over the last 30 years, it could have been expected that fewer and fewer people would be unable to afford individual items seen as necessities, as household incomes rose during this period. However, there was little change. The table in the link below gives details of all the items examined in the 1983 and 1990 Breadline Britain surveys and the 1999 PSE survey.
See also Facts and Findings 2: Going backwards, 1983 - 2012
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