Transcript Strategies to Deal with Inequalities in Wealth

Strategies to Deal with
Inequalities in Wealth
Increasing levels of
Employment and
helping those on a low
income
Why?
Labour Government in 1997 wanted to
create chances for those people who’d
become excluded from:
– Work
– Education
– Health
– Their Community
Getting them back to work would also
reduce the benefits they had to provide.
Jobcentre Plus
The New Deal
National Minimum wage
Working tax Credit
Child Tax Credit
Modern Apprenticeships
Skillseekers
Jobcentre Plus
Run by the
Department for
Work and Pensions.
Helps people get back
into employment
and claim the
benefits they are
entitled to.
An office found in
most towns and
cities.
The New Deal
New Deal is a government
programme that aims to give
unemployed people the help and
support they need to get into work.
When you join you are given:
• Training
• Advice for job interviews and
applications
• A personal adviser
Types of New Deal:
The New
The New
The New
The New
The New
People
Deal
Deal
Deal
Deal
Deal
for Young People
25 Plus
50 Plus
for Lone Parents
for Disabled
Working Tax Credit
This is a tax adjustment.
It reduces the amount of tax taken from low-paid
workers.
By doing this, it increases the gap between those
on benefits and those in employment (Benefit
Trap).
You can also reduce the cost of childcare through
this scheme - the Government will pay up to a
maximum of £175 for one child and £300 per
week for two or more.
The less you earn, the more you get, up to a
maximum of 80% of childcare costs.
Introduced to set a base rate
of pay for low-income
employees
Rates from 1 October 2010
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National
Minimum
Wage
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From 1 October 2010 new
rates and age bands will
apply.
£5.93 - the rate for
workers aged 21 and over
£4.92 - the 18-20 rate
£3.64 - the 16-17 rate
new minimum wage of
£2.50 per hour for
apprentices who are either
under 19 or in the first
year of their
apprenticeship
It was hoped this would act
as an incentive to get
people back into work –
their wages would be
higher than what they’d
get on benefits (hopefully).
In line with inflation and
housing costs?
Not according to Joseph
Rowntree Foundation. They feel
this amount is too low and
hourly earnings need to be at a
minimum of £7.
Child Tax Credit
Nine out of ten families with children are eligible for tax
credits.
Tax credits are payments from the government. If you're
responsible for at least one child or young person who
normally lives with you, you may qualify for Child Tax
Credit. If you work, but are on a low income, you may qualify
for Working Tax Credit.
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Example 1
Mr and Mrs Khan both work full-time. Between them, they
earn about £25,000 a year. They have three children. They
get about £92 a week in tax credits.
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If their income was higher, and they earned about £50,000 a
year, they’d get about £10 a week instead.
Example 2
Jon Barry is aged 30, not married and lives alone. He works
full-time and earns £10,000 a year. He gets about £25 a
week in tax credits.
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Modern Apprenticeships
Targeted at 16-24
year olds
Work-based
training
Qualification
(often gained
through further
education eg
college)
People between 16 and 24 are
given the opportunity to
work towards vocational
qualifications (VQs) ‘while
on the job’
Employers are given money to
‘employ’ young people and
give them the necessary
training
Minimum wage of £50 per
week
Skillseekers
Pension Credit
For those aged 60+.
This can be provided in addition to
the State Retirement Pension if an
individual or couple have no other
sources of income eg occupational
pension.
Top up an individual to £132.60
weekly.
Top up a couple to £202.40 weekly.
Winter Fuel Payment
This payment can range from
£125 to £400 depending on
circumstances.
This is a one-off payment to
help cover the increasing cost
of fuel bills.
Cold Weather Payment
A payment of £25 when the
recorded temperature is
below zero degrees Celsius for
7 consecutive days.
Addressing Gender
(Income) Inequalities
Equal Pay Act 1970
Under law both men and women are entitled
to equal pay. In addition to basic salary or
wages, pay is also deemed to include
contractual benefits, such as pension
contributions and bonuses. The Equal Pay
Act is part of employment law and should
be treated as separate from general
discrimination law.
Does this seem to be working?
Sex Discrimination Act
1975
The Sexual Discrimination Act of 1975 was
introduced to protect individuals from
discrimination on the grounds of sex.
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Direct
Indirect
Verbal harassment
Non-verbal harassment
Physical harassment
Victimisation
Refer to Video Clip
http://www.inbrief.co.uk/sex-discrimination-act.htm
Equality Act 2010
Will combine all previous pieces of anti-discrimination
law that have been introduced through the years. This
will be ‘the’ anti-discrimination legislation.
It makes it possible for the government to expect all
employers with more than 250 staff to report their
gender pay gap from 2013.
Public bodies with more than 150 employees will also be
required to report on gender pay as well as other
equality data, including the number of black, Asian
and minority ethnic workers, by April 2011
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article7096707.ece
http://www.equalities.gov.uk/pdf/401727_GEO_EqualityLaw_Rights_acc.pdf
Equality Act 2010
This will also include an element of
‘positive action’ (positive
discrimination) in an attempt to
address the race and gender
inequalities that currently exist.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7474801.stm
Equality and Human Rights
Commission (EHRC)
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Responsible for enforcing the law
Helps to build better relations
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According to the EHRC, there are 6 strands of
discrimination: Gender, Race, Disability, Age, Faith
and Sexual Orientation.
• Has the power to enforce equality legislation. In the
past, people had to go to different organisations to
report discrimination and could only claim they’d
been discriminated against based on one of the six
above. Now they can claim to be treated unfairly due
to more than one of the above.
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/vision-and-mission/
Child Support Agency
The Child Support Agency (CSA) is part of the
Child Maintenance and Enforcement
Commission.
Their role is to make sure that parents who live
apart from their children contribute financially
to their upkeep by paying child maintenance.
Women are far more likely to benefit from this
than men. Why?
http://www.csa.gov.uk/
Addressing Race
(Income) Inequalities
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y65ZpN-AV3c
Race Relations Act 1965 and
1976
The First Race Relations Act was criticised for
being too weak as it didn’t go far enough. It
made it illegal to discriminate on the grounds of
colour, race, ethnic or national origins. However,
it didn’t cover this in relation to housing or
employment and it wasn’t a criminal offence – it
was civil!
The 1976 Act did take it further and make it
illegal to discriminate in relation to education,
employment and housing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/8/newsid_4457000/4457112.stm
Introduced in light of McPherson Report – Stephen
Lawrence (Institutional Discrimination)
Public authorities eg NHS were encouraged to
address racial imbalance in workforce
Race Relations
(Amendment) Act
2000
Equality and Human Rights
Commission (EHRC)
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Responsible for enforcing the law
Helps to build better relations
•
According to the EHRC, there are 6 strands of
discrimination: Gender, Race, Disability, Age, Faith
and Sexual Orientation.
• Has the power to enforce equality legislation. In the
past, people had to go to different organisations to
report discrimination and could only claim they’d
been discriminated against based on one of the six
above. Now they can claim to be treated unfairly due
to more than one of the above.
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/vision-and-mission/
Equality Act 2010
Will combine all previous pieces of anti-discrimination
law that have been introduced through the years. This
will be ‘the’ anti-discrimination legislation.
It makes it possible for the government to expect all
employers with more than 250 staff to report their
gender pay gap from 2013.
Public bodies with more than 150 employees will also be
required to report on gender pay as well as other
equality data, including the number of black, Asian
and minority ethnic workers, by April 2011
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article7096707.ece
http://www.equalities.gov.uk/pdf/401727_GEO_EqualityLaw_Rights_acc.pdf
This is the Scottish
Government’s campaign
aimed at tackling
racism.
It tries to show the
contribution that all
cultures have made to
Scottish society.
This campaign initiated
‘Show Racism the Red
Card’
The One
Scotland
Campaign