Lesson Starter
• What has the Central Government
done to tackle poverty?
• Have these policies worked?
We are learning to…
•
Examine whether government policies to
reduce inequalities have been successful.
Success Criteria
•
I can plan an essay outlining the
successes and failures of government
policies.
Evaluate Question
Evaluate the effectiveness of
government policies in reducing
inequalities amongst disadvantaged
groups –
12 marks
You should refer to different groups within
society and government policies that have
been implemented to try and tackle poverty.
Extended Response (12
marks)
• For 12-mark responses, up to a maximum of 8 marks
will be awarded for knowledge and understanding
(description, explanation and exemplification). The
remaining marks will be awarded for the demonstration
of higher-order skills of analysis or evaluation.
• If a candidate makes more analytical/evaluative points
than are required to gain the maximum allocation of 4
marks, these can be credited as knowledge and
understanding marks.
Things to Cover
• The main groups that suffer from poverty
• An evaluation of the success of policies to try
and reduce poverty in Scotland and the UK.
• In pairs list what you would include in this
answer.
• Think about how you would evaluate their
effectiveness.
Government
Policies
Policy Success
National Minimum Wage
• Introduced 1st April 1999.
Encouraged low-paid workers
to move back into work,
protects workers from
exploitation
• Helped to increase the income
of over 1 million workers, 78%
of whom were women.
• The minimum wage is rising in
the biggest increase since the
2008. According to the
Government, the aboveinflation change will mean more
than 1 million people see their
pay rise by up to £355 a year.
• A vital safety net for low paid
workers
Policy Failure
• Groups including the Living Wage
Foundation argue that the rate still
does not reflect the increased cost of
living.
• Research by the Resolution
Foundation think tank claimed that
increasing numbers of employees are
getting stuck on the minimum wage
for years.
• The number of workers receiving it
has doubled since it was introduced in
1999.
• The minimum wage used to always rise
faster than inflation but the
recession has blown it way off course.
• Today's minimum wage is no higher in
real terms than it was almost a
decade ago.
• In 2010, around 3½ million employees
aged 22 to retirement were paid less
than £7 per hour. Two-thirds were
women and one-third were men.
Policy Success
Policy Failure
FAILURE of tax credits:
• - Half the children in poverty are in
families already doing paid work; this
Lifted lots of lone parents and
means that the key proposition behind
families with children out of poverty
the anti-poverty strategy – ‘work is
the route out of poverty’ does not
SUCCESS of Tax Credits:
apply for many people. The underlying
problem is low pay (despite National
Minimum Wage).
• Things have improved in relative
terms. Fewer children now live in • Target to end child poverty by 2020
looks ‘unattainable’
what would have been called
• 250,000 children in Scotland live in
poverty a decade ago.
poverty.
• If government had merely
• Most of the young adults aged 16 to
increased tax allowances and
24 now in poverty were children when
benefits in line with inflation
the Government first pledged to
since 1999 there would be 1.7m
abolish child poverty in 1999.
more poor children in the UK
• Two-thirds of them are single and
without dependent children, many still
today.
living at home with their parents.
• UK child poverty is still above the EU
average.
Tax Credits
Policy Success
Coalition Reforms
• Simplification – introduce
Universal Credit by merging
JSA, housing benefit, child
tax credit, working tax
credit, income support and
employment support
allowance into a single
universal payment
• Child benefit will be cut for
families with a higher rate
tax payer from 2013,
families with one earner on
more than £50000 will see
their benefit stopped
• USE NOTES ON
UNIVERSAL CREDIT HERE
Policy Failure
CRITICISMS of coalition reforms:
• In the long – term approx. 1.7
million households will have lower
entitlements than they otherwise
would have done
• Child Benefit – Child Poverty
Action Group concerned that
government will miss its own
targets to eradicate child poverty
by 2020 – Future costs of
damaged life chances?
• The number of children in relative
poverty is forecast to rise from
2.5 million in 2009/10 to 2.9
million by 2020/21
• SEE NOTES ON CRITICS OF
THE CREDIT
Model Paragraph
Women and children are groups that are said to be
disadvantaged in society. Successive governments
have attempted to help these groups by passing
various legislation. Some more successful than
others.
TASK
Write a paragraph on the NMW.
Include:
Successes/ failures/ evaluative comment
YOU MUST MAKE A JUDGEMENT
Write a paragraph on the NMW.
• Explain what it is- which group is it
meant to help?
• EVALUATION- does this policy
work or not. Give evidence to back
your argument.
• (K) KNOWLEDGE
• (E) EVALUATIVE COMMENT
The National Minimum Wage was introduced in 1999 to encourage low
paid workers to move back into employment. It was also hoped that it
would protect some groups from exploitation and lift people out of
poverty. It has worked to a certain extent because it has helped to
increase the income of over 1 million workers, 78% of whom were
women. It is a well known fact that many women are paid less and
often struggle with the cost of childcare, so with the national minimum
wage, it could be argued that the strain will be lessened. Moreover,
the government are also aiming to raise the NMW and it is believed
that people 1 million people will see their pay rise. However, it could
also be argued that the NMW has not been completely successful in
dealing with the issue of poverty. Groups including the Living Wage
Foundation argue that the rate still does not reflect the increased
cost of living. Furthermore, research by the Resolution Foundation
think tank claimed that increasing numbers of employees are getting
stuck on the minimum wage for years. This shows that NMW is
actually having a reverse effect and not helping those in poverty at all
because it is said that today's minimum wage is no higher in real terms
than it was almost a decade ago. Therefore many groups, such as
women and children are still suffering from the effects of poverty
because the NMW does not cover the cost of living.
It is clear that the NMW has been successful to a certain extent.
Peer Marking Task
Does the answer:
Have three different benefits discussed and
explained fully and accurately?
Relate closely to the aspects of the question?
Have different disadvantaged groups been
highlighted?
Have evaluative comments throughout? Has the
questioned been answered? Does it say if the
benefits have been successful or not and
evidence used to back up the decision?