Child and Family Poverty in Oldham

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1 Child and Family Poverty in Oldham Ed Francis Joint Commissioner, Children and Young People 17 October 2012

2 Background In 1999, the Labour government made an historic commitment to eradicate child poverty within a generation (target was to halve it by 2010 and eliminate it by 2020) A Child Poverty Unit (a joint DfE, DWP, HMT Unit) was subsequently set up to promote cross-government working and integrated approach The Child Poverty Bill was introduced in June 2009, and the Child Poverty Act went on to receive Royal Assent in March 2010, setting out the 2020 vision to attack the root causes and consequences of child poverty On coming to power the Coalition Government affirmed it s commitment to the Act and took measures to implement it

3 Child Poverty Act national duties The Child Poverty Act provides a definition of Child Poverty as: A child is to be taken to be living in poverty if the child experiences socio economic disadvantage Duty on the Secretary of State to meet four UK wide targets by 2020 (using family/ household income as the prime determinant): 1. Relative poverty: less than 10% of children living in relative low income poverty (households with less than 60% of median income) 2. Material deprivation: less than 5% of children living in combined material deprivation and low income (households with less than 70% of median income) 3. Persistent poverty: % of children living in relative poverty for three out of four years (level to be set by the end of 2014) 4. Absolute poverty: less than 5 % of children living in families with income below absolute threshold (level to be set by the end of 2014)

4 Child Poverty Act national duties There was recognition of the fact that tackling Child Poverty is also about transforming the experiences, living standards and life chances of disadvantaged families with children and the need to break cycles of poverty that persist across and within generations The Act also required the publication of a UK child poverty strategy, which describes action needed across different building blocks within a 3 year lifetime of the strategy and by 2020: 1. Employment and skills 2. Financial support 3. Health, education and social services 4. Housing, environment and social inclusion

5 Child Poverty building blocks

6 Child Poverty Act local duties The Act requires local authorities and partners to: cooperate to put in place arrangements to work to reduce, and mitigate the effects of, child poverty in their local area; prepare and publish a local child poverty needs assessment and strategy to understand the drivers of child poverty in their local area and the characteristics of those living in poverty; and to outline activities that are planned to reduce child and family poverty

7 Child and Family Poverty in Oldham Key Findings Oldham has an above average number of children living in poverty compared to the national and Greater Manchester average In 2010, 27.4% of all children representing 15, year olds are considered to be living in families which are in poverty in the Borough. The average rate for England is 20.6% Poverty rates in Oldham have been declining in recent years with a reduction of 1.6% between 2009 and 2010 Whilst rates have declined in recent years, there is concern that overall falls in average incomes within the Borough since the economic downturn may be painting an unrealistic picture of declining poverty in Oldham Oldham as a place is marked by inequality between areas. Around 40% of children live in poverty in; St Mary s, Alexandra, Hollinwood and Werneth, whilst some areas have significantly lower poverty rates such as Saddleworth South (4.2%), Saddleworth North (6.4%), Saddleworth West and Lees (9.4%), Crompton (11.7%) and Royton South (12.9%)

8 Key characteristics of poverty in Oldham High level of in-work poverty compared to statistical neighbours and the national average Over one third (36.6%) of families with low income in the Borough are receiving both working tax credits and child tax credits, which is significantly higher than the national average of 24.7% Those areas with high in-work poverty tend to reflect higher levels of BME populations Hotspot areas of high out of work poverty. Hollinwood (34.5% of all children), Coldhurst (32.7%) which also has significant inwork poverty Rise in number of Lone Parents in the Borough living in poverty Higher prevalence of larger families classified as 3 children or more living in poverty Young age profile of Oldham s children and young people due to recent birth rate rise. 51.2% of children in poverty in Oldham are in families where the youngest child is aged 0-4

9 What can poverty mean for children and young people s outcomes? Growing up in Poverty impacts upon children s chances in many ways Higher rates of infant mortality linked to increased risk of accidents, poor housing conditions, poorer diet and nutrition Lower birth weights Lower educational attainment from Early Years through to primary, secondary, post-16 education and transition to adulthood Higher rates of school absence and fixed term and permanent exclusions which has marked impacts upon attainment Social exclusion due to having less financial ability to make choices whether that be access to leisure facilities, tools for learning, holidays etc Greater likelihood of engaging in youth offending, becoming a teenage parent, being NEET, living in poor and often overcrowded housing, experiencing fuel poverty and becoming homeless

10 The Children s Trust Response to Date Aligning the Children and Young People s Plan with the local anti-poverty strategy since 2010 which has seen the following Emergence of Think Family Approach (Family CAF) across agencies which has provided access to a range of earlier interventions Refocusing of the Children s Centre offer providing access to a range of services which have enabled greater social inclusion, improved parenting and other positive outcomes Recognition of the need to continue to invest in Early Intervention and Prevention Activity despite financial challenges (Teenage Pregnancy, Substance Misuse) Targeted support to vulnerable groups including support to teenage parents and Looked After Children (Life Chances) Collaborative work with and by schools

11 More Recent Developments The expansion of the two year old early education offer improvement in settings Children s Centres Payment by Results Pilot Early Years Public Health Framework Troubled Families Programme and Investment Agreements Pupil Premium and shift of resources to schools

12 The wider context for Oldham within significant funding challenges 1. The ambitious vision for Oldham to regenerate the borough including the town centre through investment in leisure facilities, securing inward investment and realising the benefits of Metrolink 2. The development of a co-operative culture between all partner organisations and residents encouraging all to have a greater stake and promoting fairness, independence and mutual contribution 3. Increased move to local solutions through district working 4. Increase the Oldham skills base to expand range of employment opportunities, including apprenticeships 5. Adoption of the Living Wage 6. Understanding the impact and developing the response to welfare reforms

13 Key Question In the face of increasing evidence of the direct consequences of child and family poverty how might the statutory and non statutory sectors work better together?