How successful have Government
strategies been in reducing wealth
inequalities?
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The unemployed
Those on a low income
Children
Parents
The Elderly
Unemployment
The introduction of the New Deal programmes, Tax
Credits and the National Minimum Wage
encouraged people to seek employment as there
was a greater financial incentive.
Unemployment fell to below 5% following the
introduction of these measures, however, the
recession (outwith Government control?) has lead
to this increasing to 8%.
Low Pay
National Minimum Wage
Rates from 1 October 2010:
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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
Why are women more likely to benefit from NMW?
• Nearly one million workers benefitted when the national
minimum wage (NMW) increased to £5.80 per hour in
October 2009. This will continue to be the case when it
increases further to £5.93 (22+) in October 2010.
• Two in three of the 950,000 beneficiaries in 2009 were
women, reinforcing the NMW's positive role in narrowing
the gender pay gap.
When you compare the findings from
the JRF above, it’s quite clear that
the NMW still falls worryingly
short of the amount required.
The UK still has a far higher
rate of people in low-income
households than most
European countries.
VAT will rise from 17.5% to 20% from
4th January 2010
There has already been criticism, with deputy leader of the Labour
Party, Harriet Harman, saying raising VAT "punished the poorest
most" meaning that pensioners, for example, "had less money in
their purses".
People not claiming
benefits?
About £16bn in income-related benefits and tax credits goes unclaimed in
the UK in a year.
• our in five low-paid workers without children missed out on tax credits
worth at least £38 a week
• Up to half of all working households do not claim housing benefit
worth an average of £37.60 a week
• An average of £13 a week in council tax benefit is not being claimed by
up to three million households
• Up to 1.7 million pensioners are missing out on an average of £31 in
pension credit payments.
How can these benefits be considered truly effective when so
many people are not taking advantage of them??
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8494105.stm
Income gap narrows across the UK
The income gap for people in different nations of the UK has
narrowed over a decade, official figures show.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8597384.stm
Is the Rich/Poor Gap Narrowing?
The size of the inequality is fallng faster
in Britain than the 30 other richest
countries.
Organisation for Economic CoOperation & Development
Child Poverty
Over 1 million less children are living in poverty than in
1997.
• Since 1999, when the current Government pledged to end
child poverty, 500,000 children have been lifted out of
poverty.
Tax Credits have enabled 40% of lone mothers to escape
poverty.
However, the huge cost of child care can result in some
lone parents being worse off working. (See next Slide)
According to the Daycare Trust, a typical full-time nursery
place for a child under two in England now costs £167
a week, or £8,684 a year. However, the highest costs in the
country see parents paying as much as £400 a week, the
equivalent of £20,800 a year. Prices are highest in London
and the south-east, averaging between £172 and £226 a
week. The lowest are in the Midlands and the north of
England. The average weekly cost of a nursery place in
Wales is now £146 a week, equivalent to £7,592 a year.
In Scotland it is £158 a week, equivalent to £8,216 a
year.
Is this acceptable?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/mar/26/affordable-childcare-family-finances
The number of children in working families
taken out of low income by the money
received from tax credits was 1.0 million in
2007/08. This is 0.7 million higher than the
0.3 million taken out of low income by the
predecessor to tax credits in 1998/99.
Tax credits have benefitted a huge number of
people.
However, this may be likely to change soon (see next slide)
2010 Budget: Child tax credits cut and
child benefit frozen
However, the single-parent organisation Gingerbread said families
with young children would soon feel the pain of the budget. Fiona
Weir, chief executive, said: "A family having a second child could be
over £1,200 worse off this year. These cuts will really hit families with
young children hard."
Support will be targetted at those on lower incomes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/22/2010-budget-child-tax-credits-cut
Tax Credit Shake-Up
5.7million families will not be able to
claim a penny of the credit from 2012,
leaving just 1.3million of the country's
poorest households benefiting from the
payment.
It means that families with one child
would receive no tax credits once they earn
above £23,275.
• 4 million children are living in poverty in the UK (after housing
costs)
• The proportion of children living in poverty grew from 1 in 10 in
1979 to 1 in 3 in 1998. Today, 30 per cent of children in Britain are
living in poverty.
• The majority (59 per cent) of poor children live in a household
where at least one adult works.
• 40 per cent of poor children live in a household headed by a
lone parent. The majority of poor children (57 per cent) live in a
household headed by a couple.
However,
• The child element in the tax credit system will rise by £150
above indexation, chancellor George Osborne has announced in
his emergency budget today.
• The rise will cost £2 billion, Mr Osborne declared, and said as a
result there would be no increase in child poverty.
• The chancellor said the measure was the coalition government's
"commitment to low-income families".
• Earlier Mr Osborne revealed child benefit would be frozen for
three years, with tax credits cut for families with incomes over
£40,000 a year.
Research has shown that in 2007, 1
in 3 over 65s in the UK were
living in poverty.
Some countries with harsher
winters in the EU have lower
winter death rates amongst the
elderly.
1 in 5 people aged 60 and over are
skipping meals to save money
on food, while two fifths are
cutting back on socialising,
electricity and gas.
Pensioner Poverty
Pensioner Poverty (continued)
£2.5 billion in elderly benefits went unclaimed last year.
Whose fault is that?
More winter help on way to poorest
pensioners
(March 2010)
• Hundreds of thousands of the poorest pensioners should benefit
from lower fuel bills this winter thanks to a deal announced
today between the big six energy suppliers (British Gas, EDF
Energy, EON, Npower, Scottish Power and Scottish and Southern
Energy) and the Government.
• As a result, up to 250,000 of the poorest pensioner households
should see an £80 rebate off their electricity bills.
• This deal will now deliver extra help of £80 to some of the
poorest of pensioners over 70 and give them the reassurance they
need as we come out of the coldest winter in decades.
Fuel Poverty
The Government introduced a number of
measures to try and address the number of
people living in fuel poverty. This is when one
tenth of a households income is spent on
electricity and gas.
The Government’s plan was to eradicate fuel
poverty by 2010.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/oct/21/households-fuel-poverty
Have they?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8594160.stm
No! The Warm Front scheme offers between
£1500 and £6000 towards new heating and
insulation. It is available to those on low
incomes and vulnerable groups.
The numbers in fuel poverty continue to
increase and they continue to fail to meet
their targets.
However,
This statistic shows that whilst most groups within society are
getting richer, the poorest group have got poorer.
Who’s really getting richer?
Have Gender Inequalities Improved?
Legislation
• A significant amount of legislation has been
introduced in order to address gender inequalities.
– Equal Pay Act
– Sex Discrimination Act
– Equality Act 2010
Therefore, it has been acknowledged as an issue.
However, does it go far enough and has it worked?
Flexible Working Patterns
Employees now have the opportunity to apply for
either, reduced hours, flexi-time, shift-work,
working at home and working same hours over
less days.
However, they usually have to have been with the
company for a minimum period of time eg 26
weeks and be a full-time carer.
Women in Positions of
Power
Women are now far more likely to occupy
positions of power than they ever have.
For example, Michelle Mone (Ultimo) and
Karen Brady (Managing Director at
Birmingham City at the age of 23).
http://money.uk.msn.com/women-and-money/photos.aspx?cp-documentid=150854680
National Minimum Wage
Women benefit from the NMW far more than
men as they are more likely to occupy the
low paid, low status jobs. When the NMW
increased in 2007, of the 1 million people
who benefitted, 2/3 were women.
Role Models
There are a number of highly successful
women who’ve become role models for
many others. This would not have been
the case in the past. For example, Eilish
Angiolini became the Lord Advocate in
2006 – the first woman to occupy such a
position. Law is significantly dominated by
men.
Equality Act 2010
This, in theory, should go some way towards
addressing gender imbalances in terms of
pay and job status/type within
organisations.
Positive Action could also work in favour of
women.
Education
Females are now outperforming boys in
school and excelling at University too. This
pattern looks likely to continue.
Child Support Agency
Women are far more likely to benefit from
this as they are more likely to be lone
parents. This will have a significant impact
on their income, which would not have
been the case in the past.
Pay Gap
Men still earn more than women and are
more likely to occupy the best paying jobs.
They are also more likely to work full-time,
which is much better paid than part-time.
National Minimum Wage
This is still well below the levels suggested
by the JRF (£7 per hour at least) and
would fall below the £14,400 suggested by
the HBAI for a single person.
What groups are more likely to take
advantage of the NMW?
Lack of Representation in
Politics and ‘top jobs’
Only 45 of the 129 MSPs in the Scottish Parliament are
female.
Only 143 of the 650 MPs in the UK Parliament are female.
Very few women occupy positions of power within
organisations.
• In the top 100 public companies, women made up 12.6%
of executive directors, little changed from last year's
12.2%.
• Taking into account all 600 companies quoted on the
London stock exchange, the figure falls to just 5%.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10648355
Type of Employment
The low paid, low status jobs tend to be
dominated by women (the 4Cs – catering,
cleaning, cash registers and caring).
Often women are considered unemployed
but are still fulfilling a role (unpaid) such as
bringing up children and caring for
relatives.
Child Support Agency
The charity Gingerbread, which supports single parent
families, has criticised the CSA help for failing to keep up
with its targets for collecting child maintenance payments
owed to households in the UK.
The service set itself an aim of collecting one hundred and
seventy million pounds owed to dependants within
Britain. However, during 2009/10 the organisation only
managed to recoup one hundred and forty seven million
pounds.
Have race inequalities improved?
Legislation
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Race Relations Act 1965 and 1976
EHRC
Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000
The One Scotland Campaign
One Scotland Many Cultures
One Scotland Campaign
Acknowledgement that Scotland does need
to address race inequalities and
discrimination.
This could be trying to change stereotypes
and cultural misconceptions through
‘Show Racism The Red Card’ and ‘One
Scotland Many Cultures’.
Role Models
National Minimum Wage
Education
In 2007-08, 16% of students from the UK
studying for degrees were from a black,
Asian or ethnic minority background.
This compared to 14.2% of the 18-24-yearold age group as a whole.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8493894.stm
Islamophobia
There’s evidence that there is an element of
anti-Islamic feeling within Scotland and the
UK.
Attacks on Mosques have coincided with
terrorist attacks/plots in the UK and
throughout the world.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/imam-attacked-as-antimuslim-violence-grows-461483.html
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/west-central/114841-asian-man-in-racist-knife-attack/
Poverty
Evidence previously gathered shows that
BMEs are far more likely to live in poverty
than Whites.
Therefore, have Government policies really
worked?
Discrimination
Racism is still stopping Britain's ethnic minorities from entering the
best-paid professions despite them having a stronger work ethic and
greater drive than white Britons.
The report, funded by the government and compiled by charity
Business in the Community, whose president is Prince Charles, says
too many ethnic minority Britons feel prestige jobs in the law,
banking, media and politics are closed to them.
For the study, 1,500 people from all ethnic backgrounds were
interviewed. Asked which professions were seen as racist, nearly
half of all respondents saw the police as prejudiced, rising to 72%
for Afro-Caribbeans. The armed forces were seen as prejudiced by
36%, politics by 30%, and law by 16%.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/15/racism-britons-best-paid-professions
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/7827779/Blatant-racism-puts-one-in-four-ethnic-minorities-off-top-careers.html
Education
Although there’s clear evidence that ethnic minorities do
less well than Whites (see previous slides) those who do
manage to get Degrees still find it more difficult to get
employment.
• The report by campaign group Race for Opportunity,
shows that 56.3% of ethnic minority students who
graduated in 2007-08 found work within a year,
compared with 66% of white students.
• This is despite the fact that 16% of UK university
students were from an ethnic minority background in
2007-08 - up from 8.3% in 1995-96.
http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2010/02/03/53943/ethnic-minority-university-graduates-still-find-it-harder-to-find-jobs-than-white-counterparts.html
Politics and Representation
Only 27 of the 650 MPs in the UK
Parliament are BME.