Transcript Headteacher’s Conference Child and Family Poverty Andrew Simmons

Headteacher’s
Conference
Child and Family Poverty
Andrew Simmons
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32,415
13.1% - 20.1%
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Child Poverty affects life chances and
forms an inter-generational cycle
1) Lack of income and material resources
in childhood adversely affect early years
development
2) impacting on cognitive, emotional and
behavioural capacities and resources,
and so shaping social identities and
trajectories through education
3) which in turn increases the risk of
precarious labour market position
4) thus increasing the risk of poverty in
adulthood
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What can child poverty feel like?
– Unfair ‐ going without the things others take for
granted
– Lonely ‐ not being able to join in
– Frightening ‐ being bullied or picked on for being
different, living in unsafe housing
– Frustrating ‐ not achieving at school or in life as
much as you can
– Worrying ‐ being worried about money and debt
– Limiting ‐ not knowing what the world has to offer
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What does child poverty really mean?
How much money do you think a
family of four on the poverty line
has to live on a week ?
……for rent, heat, food, clothes,
books, transport, holidays ,
birthdays, furniture, school trips
toys, emergencies...
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Impacts of Poverty
Poverty & Housing
Poverty & Health
• Children who live in poverty
Prematurity/Low Birth Weight / IMR
Accidents
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are almost twice as likely to
be in bad housing.
Children living in bad
housing are almost twice as
likely to suffer from poor
health as other children
Children in overcrowded or
unfit accommodation are a
third more likely to suffer
respiratory problems
Developmental delay
Dental caries
Stature and growth
Learning disability
STIs / teenage pregnancy
Delinquency
Accidents
Disability
Maltreatment
Adult ill health (Stroke; IHD; Type 2
Diabetes)
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What does child poverty really mean?
Of the following groups of deprived children,
which group is most likely to not achieve 5 good
GCSES?
a) Bangladeshi boys in low income households
b) Black Caribbean boys in low income
Households
c) White boys in low income households
d) Pakistani girls in low income households
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The Child Poverty Act
Making a legal commitment to end poverty by 2020
The Act sets out four targets to
eradicate child poverty by 2020 and
beyond:
Relative low income – less than
10% in 2020
Combined low income and material
deprivation
Absolute low income target – less
than 5% in 2020
Persistent poverty target
Low income is defined as below 60%
median income before housing costs.
It also requires government to minimise
socioeconomic disadvantage for children
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The Act also sets out how
government will be held
accountable, by publishing:
A strategy every three years to
2020 and an annual report.
The first strategy must be
published by March 2011, and
will cover the first 3 years of the
strategy. The Government must
consult on the national
strategy.
Part 2 of The Act requires local
authorities and their delivery
partners to produce local
strategies, based on local area
needs assessments
Hertfordshire Child & Family Poverty Strategy
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Hertfordshire Child & Family Poverty Strategy
1: employment and adult skills
• supporting families to increase their income by ensuring
that parents can enter, stay and progress in work
• promoting opportunities for adults to acquire skills
necessary to enter, stay and progress in work and
increase their income
2: financial support
• supporting families to increase take up of benefits and
tax credits
• supporting families to acquire the skills and knowledge
that will enable them to access fair financial services and
to avoid punitive debt recovery action
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Hertfordshire Child & Family Poverty Strategy
3: services for children, young people and families, in
particular education, health and family support
• supporting children’s education and personal
development with a specific focus on narrowing the gap
in achievement and equality of opportunity
• supporting families to improve their health
• supporting parents’ resilience and strengthening their
parenting skills
4: housing and neighbourhoods
• supporting children to grow up in a decent home
environment free from homelessness, overcrowding etc.
• enabling families and children to thrive in safe, cohesive
communities and neighbourhoods
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Priorities identified through ‘needs analysis
• to increase employment prospects for young people and
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families in pockets of deprivation, particularly in Broxbourne,
Stevenage and Waltham Cross (including childcare sufficiency,
links between Jobcentre Plus, children’s centres and other
sources of information and advice)
Measures to increase the availability of financial information
and advice in the above identified areas.
A focus on improving the educational achievement of children
at key stages 2 and 4 in identified areas of deprivation.
A focus on healthy eating, breastfeeding and physical activity,
particularly in deprived areas such as Broxbourne, Stevenage
and Watford, in order to reduce levels of obesity.
A continued focus on measures aimed at reducing levels of
teenage pregnancy in areas where rates are higher.
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‘Think Family’ – A clear link to both HCC
and wider partnership priorities
• Established multi agency Child & Family Poverty
• Established
Trust
led Child Poverty
Strategy
– recentlyChildren’s
reviewed and
updated
Strategy
• Key priority for Children’s Trust and CYPP – and
emerging Health & Wellbeing Board
• ‘Think Family’ a central theme within Child &
Family Poverty Strategy
• Link to county economic development strategy group
‘Hertfordshire Forward’ – significant investment through PRG
funding in ‘Think Family’ project
• Underpinned by recognition that some Hertfordshire
communities need significant sustained support to tackle
poverty and under achievement
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‘Think Family’ – already established
within mainstream services
Some examples of existing family centred approaches
•
Children’s Centres
– Countywide network – with local approaches
responding to identified needs
• Within Schools and other education settings
– Extended schools consortia – C&YP Workers and
Family Support Workers
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Young People beyond family control
– Targeted Youth Support Teams already impacting on
volume of Social Care entrants through early
intervention
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‘Think Family’ – pathfinder projects
developing new ways of working
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Scaffold Project – multi agency approach focused on four
deprived communities
East Herts Family Intervention Project – tackling
persistent offending
Housing Challenge Project – delivery through 6 District
Council ASB teams with focus on families at risk of
eviction
ALL are establishing new ways of improving outcomes
- Significant additional investment from EIG in 2011/12
- Testing new ways of working with intention to imbed
successful approaches within multi agency teams
from 2012 / 13
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Thank you for listening
Are you aware of the Hertfordshire Child
& Family Poverty Strategy and how you
contribute to it?
What more should we be doing?
What more do we need to do to move
from strategy to action and outcomes?
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