NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS CURRICULUM SUPPORT
Modern Studies
Social Issues in the UK:
Health and Wealth
[ACCESS 3]
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reminded that it is their responsibility to check that the
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Acknowledgement
Learning and Teaching Scotland gratefully acknowledges this contribution to the National
Qualifications support programme for Modern Studies.
The publishers gratefully acknowledge permission from the following sources to reproduce
copyright material: image of male teacher © Ministry of Education, Singapore; employment,
unemployment and economic inactivity rates by gender in Scotland © Crown Copyright, 2006;
image of an older woman from Living in a Democracy by Allan Grieve and Graeme Pont,
1999, and map of richest and poorest areas of Britain from UK Social Issues by Clark Cooney
and Morrison reproduced with permission from Pulse Publications; table showing worst health
statistics, table showing best health statistics both © BBC News.
Microsoft Clipart icons/images © 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Every effort has been made to trace all the copyright holders but if any have been inadvertently
overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first
opportunity.
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2007
This resource may be reproduced in whole or in part for educational purposes by educational
establishments in Scotland provided that no profit accrues at any stage.
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SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK (ACCESS 3, MODERN STUDIES)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2007
Contents
Section 1: Health inequalities
Original aims of the National Health Service (NHS)
Factors that influence health
Geographical health inequalities across the UK
The health gap widens
End poverty to end health inequalities
Evidence and causes
Smoking, morbidity and mortality
Link between diet, social class and ill health
4
4
5
11
16
20
21
28
29
Section 2: Providing healthcare
Meeting Scotland’s health needs – health provision
by the NHS
Care in the community
How health needs are met
The Scottish Parliament
Voluntary sector healthcare provision
Local authorities, healthcare and health promotion
The private sector and healthcare
31
Section 3: Poverty
Absolute poverty
Relative poverty
Homelessness
Living in poverty
Causes of poverty
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42
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45
46
54
Section 4: Tackling poverty
Central Government
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64
Resources
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Section 1: Health inequalities
Words
Throughout this resource you will come across words that you may not
know. Some have explanation boxes at the side to help you unders tand
these important words. As a class, you could make a poster for the
classroom wall to display all the new words.
Original aims of the National Health Service (NHS)
When the NHS was set up in 1948, one of its original aims was to
provide a universal healthcare service. This meant that the NHS was
committed to providing everyone in the UK, regardless of age, gender,
ethnic background, marital status or where they lived, with a service of
equal quality. In 2006, almost 60 years later, despite all the advances in
medical care and technology; and a universal system of healthcare there
is growing evidence that:
 inequalities in health still exist throughout the UK
 inequalities in standards of healthcare provision exist throughout the
UK
 these inequalities are getting worse rather than better.
Tasks
1.
What were the original aims of the NHS?
2.
What evidence suggests that the NHS has been unable to meet
these aims?
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Factors that influence health
Some people have better health than others. There are
differences in morbidity (illness) and mortality (earlier death)
between different groups of people.
Some groups of people are more likely to suffer from illnesses
and will die younger, whilst other people will be less likely to
suffer illness and will live longer.
Morbidity:
how likely
someone is to
become ill.
Mortality:
how likely
someone is to
die early.
A combination of factors will determine whether someone has
better or worse health and whether they will have a longer or shorter
life.
These factors are described in the table below.
Gender and biological
factors
Men tend to suffer more illness and die
younger; women tend to suffer less
illness and live longer.
Inherited factors
Illness or health problems passed on
from grandparents to parents to children
– if parents suffer illnesses, their
children are more likely to suffer from
the same illnesses. If parents are
healthier, their children are more likely
to also be healthier.
Geographical location
People who live in poorer areas of the
UK – e.g. parts of Glasgow are more
likely to suffer illness and earlier death
than people who live in the South East
of England. Better educated people use
health facilities more often than poorly
educated people.
Working conditions
People who work in unhealthy, dirty,
dusty or damp environments will suffer
more illness and will be likely to die
younger than people who work in
cleaner, healthier conditions.
SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK (ACCESS 3, MODERN STUDIES)
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Personal lifestyle
People who do not smoke, who exercise
regularly and eat a balanced, healthy
diet will suffer less illness and will live
longer than people who smoke, drink
excessively, eat too much food
containing salt, fat and sugar and who
do not exercise.
Socio-economic status
Poorer people are more likely to die
younger and suffer more illness than
better off people – illness and early
death are linked to poverty.
Ethnic background
People from ethnic minority
backgrounds are more likely to be
poorer and are therefore more likely to
suffer illness and early death as this is
linked to poverty. These people are also
less likely to use medical services,
possibly due to language difficulties
(English may not be their first
language).
Age
The very young and the very old are
more likely to suffer from illness as
their bodies are unable to cope with
illness – they are more vulnerable to
infection and disease.
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Tasks
1.
Copy and complete the sentences below to explain the difference
between ‘morbidity’ and ‘mortality’:
‘Morbidity’ means groups of people suffering from
i________________ and d_______________.
‘Mortality’ means groups of people who are likely to suffer earlier
d_______________.
2.
Using the information in the ‘Factors that influence health’ table
on pages 5–6, copy and complete a new table like the one below,
to show:
(a)
which groups of people are more likely to suffer more illness
and die younger
(b)
which groups of people are more likely to suffer less illness
and live longer.
More illness and die younger
Less illness and live longer
men
women
People whose parents and
grandparents were unhealthy/
suffered from diseases
People whose parents and
grandparents were healthy
SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK (ACCESS 3, MODERN STUDIES)
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Case study 1
Jim was born in Scotland; his parents were born in
Burkino Faso, Africa. Jim is 65 years old. He worked for
most of his working life as a coal miner, until the coal
mine closed down. He did a few other odd jobs and some
factory work until he retired. He smokes 40 cigarettes a
day and his only regular exercise is taking his dog a walk
to the local paper shop every morning. Jim likes to eat a fried breakfast
most mornings and enjoys take-away food most evenings. Jim lives in
an old flat in an inner-city housing estate near a large chemical factory.
Jim’s dad suffered from diabetes and died of a heart attack aged 69
years.
Case study 2
Mary was born in Scotland; her parents lived in
England for a few years before moving to Scotland.
Mary is 65 years old. She worked in a lawyer’s office
for most of her working life. Mary has never smoked,
and only drinks small amounts of alcohol. Mary and her
friends regularly meet at the park for walks, she plays
bowls and she has recently started an aqua-fit class at the local
swimming pool. Mary enjoys cooking and tries to eat a healthy diet of
fresh fruit, fish, meat and vegetables. Mary lives in a cottage on the
outskirts of the town, near a large farm. Mary’s parents lived into their
80s.
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Tasks
Talking partners
Read case studies 1 and 2 carefully. Discuss with a partner the
following questions about Jim and Mary. Write down some notes of
your discussion – be prepared to share your ideas with the rest of the
class.
 Will Jim or Mary suffer from more illness? Give reasons for your
answer – for example, you could list all the things that will be likely
to lead to more illness for that person.
 Do you think Jim or Mary will live longer? Give reasons for your
answer – for example, you could list all the things that will be likely
to lead to less illness and a longer life for that person.
Role play
Jim decides to visit his doctor to discuss his health.
 In pairs, decide who will play the role of Jim, and who will play the
role of his doctor.
 Write a short roleplay sketch of the discussion between Jim and his
doctor.
Ideas for ‘Jim’
 Discuss with the doctor why you are worried about your health.
 Mention to your doctor all the things you think are making you
unhealthy.
 Any other things you think you would discuss with the doctor.
Ideas for ‘doctor’
 Tell Jim why you as his doctor are very worried about his health.
 Explain to Jim how he could make changes to his lifestyle to reduce
his chances of illness and an early death. (Hint: You could suggest
he starts doing some of the things Mary does to keep healthy! )
 Any other things you think you would discuss with Jim, as his
doctor.
SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK (ACCESS 3, MODERN STUDIES)
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Class discussion
Pupil pairs should give a short summary of their discussion,
highlighting to the class those things they have identified which are
likely to lead to more illness and a shorter unhealthy life for Jim and
less illness and a longer healthier life for Mary.
Poster activity
Design a poster that could be displayed in the classroom, showing Jim’s
unhealthy lifestyle on one half of the poster, and Mary’s healthy
lifestyle on the other half of the poster. You could use old newspapers
and magazines to cut out pictures for each side of the poster.
For Mary’s side of the poster you could look for pictures of:
 healthy food, like fresh fruit, meat, fish and vegetables
 people cooking their own meals
 housing in healthy areas in the countryside
 people taking exercise – swimming, running, cycling, playing sports.
For Jim’s side of the poster you could look for pictures of:
 unhealthy food, like sugary cakes and biscuits, crisps, fried food
 take-away food
 housing in less healthy areas in the cities, or near factories
 people being lazy – driving instead of walking or cycling, watching
TV, eating snacks.
Extension task
Visit the following website:
http://www.unicef.org.uk/tz/resources/assets/pdf/what_we_eat_diets_ac
tivity.pdf
Complete the questions using the information in the documents.
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Geographical health inequalities across the UK
A study carried out by Bristol University looked into health inequalities
across the UK. The study examined the health rates, education,
earnings, unemployment and life expectancy (how long people were
expected to live) in all areas of the UK and produced a league table .
The table showed the healthiest, wealthiest and best educated areas in
the UK at the top of the table, and the unhealthiest, poorest and poorest
educated areas at the bottom of the league table.
Tasks
1.
What did the research from Bristol University examine?
2.
What did the league table produced from the information collected
by the study actually show?
The research showed that many of the poorest, unhealthiest and poorly
educated areas of the UK were in Scotland. Many of the poorest areas
of the UK were in Northern England and Scotland. Many of the better
off areas of the UK were in the South of England such as Suffolk and
Norfolk where people were more likely to be healthy and well educated.
This difference in health between the north and south of the UK is
known as the North–South divide.
Tasks
3.
Where were many of the better off and healthiest areas of the UK?
4.
Where were many of the poorer and unhealthiest areas o f the UK?
5.
What is the difference in health between the north and south of the
UK known as?
SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK (ACCESS 3, MODERN STUDIES)
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
The health of people in better off areas was improving, and so was the
health of people in poorer areas, but the gap or difference in health
between people in the North and South was increasing. Six of the worst
health areas of the UK were in Glasgow, where people were more likely
to suffer from poverty. The research showed that people in poor areas
were more likely to suffer illness than people in better off ar eas.
Tasks
6.
In which Scottish city were six of the UK’s worst health areas?
7.
What does the research show about health and poverty?
Geographical Inequalities
The map below shows that if 100 people die in an average area of the
UK before the age of 65, then areas with a figure above 100 have
generally poorer health; areas with a figure below 100 have better than
average health.
W
e
Th
Page 34, UK Social Is s
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Tasks
8.
According to the blue areas on the map, which three areas have the
best health in the UK? How do you know this? (Give figures to
explain your answer.)
9.
According to the red areas on the map, which area has the worst
health in the UK? How do you know this? (Give figures to explain
your answer.)
‘All of the unhealthiest
areas of the UK are in
Scotland. There is a health
divide between the north
and south of the UK.’
Tasks
10. Using the map source only, copy and complete the paragraph
below to give one reason to support and one reason to oppose the
view of Mr Mather.
Mr Mather says ‘All of the unhealthiest areas of the UK are in
S____________. One reason to oppose this view is that according to the
map, areas in E____________ including M_____________ Central have
poorer than average (100) health with a figure of ____________.
Mr Mather also says ‘There is a health divide between the n_________
and s___________ of the UK’. One reason to support this view is that
most of the blue healthiest areas of the UK are in the south including
W______________ with a healthy 65, whereas most of the red
unhealthiest areas are in the n___________ of the UK including
Glasgow S_______________ with an unhealthy 234.
SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK (ACCESS 3, MODERN STUDIES)
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Seven Best Health
Areas
Death rates
(SMR <65)
Infant
mortality rates
Children in
poverty
Wokingham
65
51
5%
Woodspring
65
60
12%
Romsey
65
58
12%
South Cambridgeshire
66
60
13%
South Norfolk
69
57
15%
Northavon
70
50
11%
Buckingham
71
57
11%
UK Average
100
100
27%
Seven Worst Health
Areas
Death rates
(SMR <65)
Infant
mortality rates
Children in
poverty
Glasgow Shettleston
234
208
59%
Glasgow Springburn
217
202
60%
Glasgow Maryhill
196
188
63%
Glasgow Pollock
187
173
52%
Glasgow Anniesland
181
176
51%
Glasgow Baillieston
180
195
54%
Manchester Central
173
189
58%
UK Average
100
100
27%
Source: ‘North–south divide widening’, BBC News,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/health/545517.htm
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Tasks – discussion
One of the researchers involved in the health inequalities
study has given some statements to a local newspaper.
With a partner, discuss the statements made about health,
life expectancy and education level of people living in
different areas of the UK. For each statement, you must
use the information in the tables on page 14 to decide if
each newspaper statement is true or false.
Geographical
health
inequalities:
This means people
who live in
wealthier areas of
the UK have
better health than
those who live in
poorer areas.
Statement 1 is about life expectancy
‘The life expectancy of people living poorest areas of the
UK is much shorter than that of people living in the
wealthiest areas of the UK.’
True?
False?
Life expectancy:
This means how
long someone can
expect to live,
based on a number
of factors
including health
and income.
Evidence:
Statement 2 is about infant mortality
‘Children living in the poorest households were twice as
likely to die before the age of 1 year as babies born in
wealthy areas in the South East of England.’
True?
False?
Infant mortality:
This means how
likely a newborn
baby is to die before
the age of 1 year.
Babies born in
poorer areas are
more likely to die
before reaching
their first birthday.
Evidence:
Statement 3 is about poverty in the UK
‘In all seven of the poorest areas of the UK, over 60% of children are
living in poverty’
True?
False?
Evidence:
SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK (ACCESS 3, MODERN STUDIES)
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Statement 4 is about average child poverty in the UK
‘In the UK, an average of 27 children live in poverty for every 100
children in an area’
True?
False?
Evidence:
The health gap widens
The 1999 Widening Gap Report identified that six of the
seven areas in the UK with the worst health were in
Glasgow, including Shettleston, Springburn, Maryhill,
Pollock, Anniesland, Baillieston and Govan.
In these six areas of poverty and poor health, the research
found that:
Health gap:
This means the gap
or difference in
health between
people in the
wealthiest and
people in the
poorest areas of the
UK. This gap is
widening.
 the UK’s highest infant mortality rate of 103 infant
deaths per 1000 births was in Glasgow
 34% of people were living in poverty
 18.5% of men are unemployed and 13% are chronically sick in
Glasgow
 in one year, 181 people will have died under the age of 65 ; 63% of
these deaths could have been avoided.
Tasks
1.
What evidence can you find to show that Glasgow’s infant
mortality rate is the worst in the UK?
2.
Complete: Six of the seven worst health areas of the UK are in
G___________. About __________% of people living in these six
areas are living in poverty. Well over half of all the deaths of
people under 65 years in these areas (____%) could have been
avoided.
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Health inequalities between Glasgow and Edinburgh
The health of people in poorer areas of the UK is clearly
worse than the health of people living in better off areas of
the UK. There is not only a North–South health divide, but
also differences in health between different cities in the
north, such as Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Health
inequalities:
This means people
living in poorer
areas are likely to
be unhealthy, and
people living in
better-off areas are
likely to be
healthier.
 GDP per capita (a measure of how much money a person
earns) for Edinburgh was 33% higher than that for
Glasgow – in other words, average incomes in Edinburgh
are higher than in Glasgow.
 During the 1970s and 1980s unemployment was high due to the
closure of many traditional industries – although the situation has
much improved in Glasgow, it has left man y people still living in
poverty and suffering from ill health.
 As poverty is linked to ill health, life expectancy is shorter in poorer
cities. On average, people in Edinburgh live 4 years longer than
people in Glasgow.
Tasks
Groupwork – brainstorm
Discuss as a group, reasons why there is a health and wealth difference
between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Points to think about might include:





Why do people earn more money in Edinburgh?
What kind of well-paid jobs have become available in Edinburgh?
What caused high unemployment in Glasgow?
How might being unemployed affect a family’s income and health?
Why are people in Edinburgh more likely to live longer than people
in Glasgow, on average?
 What might people who are better off do to improve their health an d
live longer?
SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK (ACCESS 3, MODERN STUDIES)
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Differences in health in Glasgow
It is important to remember that not everyone living in Glasgow is poor
and unhealthy! We know there is a gap between the health of people in
different parts of the UK. The report also highlighted the huge gap in
the health of people living in the poorest areas and wealthiest areas of
Glasgow.
If two babies were born on the same day, one in a poor health
area like Shettleston and the other in a better health area like
Bearsden, then the baby born in Shettleston is more likely to be:
 born underweight as the mother may have been undernourished or smoked whilst pregnant
 live ten years less as poorer health is likely to cause early
death
 twice as likely to die before its first birthday as underweight
babies will suffer from more illnesses
 three times more likely to die of heart disease or bronchitis
 three times more likely to die of breast cancer
 twice as likely to die of lung cancer
 four times more likely to suffer from a psychiatric disorder
 2.5 times more likely to die before 65.
Bronchitis:
This is a disease of
the lungs which is
often caused by
smoking. It can
lead to death.
Psychiatric disorder:
This could be mood
swings, anxiety
(worry) disorders,
eating disorders,
developmental
disorders, personality
disorders, depression
or one of many other
categories.
Tasks
1.
Describe the health disadvantages for babies born in poorer areas
of Scotland.
2.
Describe the life expectancy disadvantages for babies born in
poorer areas of Scotland.
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
End poverty to end health inequalities
The publication of The Widening Gap report led to immediate
calls for urgent action to ease the problems of poverty in
Glasgow and this resulted in more funding for improving
health and education in Glasgow, especially the most deprived
areas. The Report concluded that the only way to reduce
health inequalities across the UK was to reduce poverty, as
poverty and poor health were clearly linked. Only by
increasing the income of the poorest people in the UK would
the health of these people improve.
Life expectancy:
This means how
long someone can
expect to live, based
on a number of
factors including
health and income.
Deprived:
This means ‘doing
without’. When
used to describe an
area, it means an
area that lacks
facilities, or has
high levels of
unemployment.
Tasks
1.
What is the only way to reduce health inequalities across the UK,
according to the report?
2.
Discussion Point: Discuss as a class or with a partner, the
following issue:
Is there really only one way to reduce health inequalities? Write a
list of things that might help reduce health inequalities.
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Evidence and causes
The evidence
A number of studies have been carried out over the years that have
shown that there are still health inequalities in the UK. The Black
Report (1980), The Health Divide (1987), Working Together for a
Healthier Scotland (1998) and The Acheson Report (1998) have
examined health inequalities, and have shown how the health gap has
widened in the UK, and that poverty is a main cause of these health
inequalities.
There is a clear link between poverty and ill health. People living in
poverty have less income, are more likely to be unemployed or earn a
lower wage, have a poorer education, live in poorer quality housing and
are also more likely to suffer higher morbidity and mortality rates than
people in better off areas.
Poorer people, including pregnant women, are also more likely to eat a
poorer diet, are less likely to use health services, take less exercise and
are more likely to smoke and drink larger amounts of alcohol.
Causes of ill health
The studies described above have shown that people’s health was
improving in the UK, but not equally. The health of people in better off
areas was improving more than the health of people in poorer areas.
There continued to be a health gap between better off and poorer areas
of the UK.
In order to improve the health of millions, the gap between the richest
and poorest in UK society had to be reduced.
Poor health was linked to social and economic factors. Social factors
are things relating to a person’s lifestyle and living conditions;
economic factors are things relating to income and employment. Social
and economic factors linked to poor health include such as:
 lower income – less money to buy healthy food
 unemployment – less money than working people, may lead to stress
and other mental health problems, caused by money worries
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
 poor environment – living in an inner-city, polluted environment
where there is cheaper housing can affect health
 poor housing – damp and overcrowded housing conditions can affect
health
 education – less likely to be aware of health facilities available, less
likely to be aware of the health benefits of exercise and a balanced
healthy diet
 lifestyle – smoking, drinking alcohol excessively and taking drugs,
choosing not to exercise regularly, and eating a fatty, sugary diet can
all badly affect health.
Interview with a doctor
A Modern Studies pupil interviewed a local doctor to find out about the
social and economic factors linked to poor health. The interview is
below:
Pupil:
Can you explain why someone who is unemployed and living on a
lower income might less healthy than someone who is better off and
working in a well-paid job?
Doctor:
Living on a lower income can certainly affect someon e’s health. People
living on a lower income have less money to spend on healthy food, and
are less able to access shops which sell healthier food. Lower income
families are more likely to buy cheaper, less healthy food for their
children from nearby shops which may not have healthy, fresh food
available. Families on lower incomes are also less likely to afford to
buy their home or to live in a house which is spacious, warm and dry.
The cost of heating can also be a problem for lower income families.
Living in a cold, damp house can clearly affect the health of lower
income families.
People who are unemployed and rely on benefits have a lower standard
of living and because of their lower income are more likely to suffer
illness. They are also more likely to suffer from depression and mental
health problems linked to feelings of hopelessness, or worries about
money and how to afford to pay the bills. Less money for luxuries and a
social life may also lead to depression.
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Pupil:
Why would someone with a lower education level be more likely to
suffer from illnesses?
Doctor:
Education level can affect health. People with a lower level of
education are more likely to be unhealthy, as they are more likely to be
unemployed or live on a lower income, as they do not have the
qualifications required to get a better paid job. People with higher
levels of education are more likely to be employed and earn more
money, allowing them to afford a healthier lifestyle. Better educated
people are also more likely to be aware of the health benefits of regular
exercise and good diet, and are more likely to be aware of the health
services available in their area. Access to the internet allows better
educated people to find out about their own health and are more likely
to spend longer at the doctor’s surgery asking questions about their
health than people with a lower level of education. All these things
mean that better educated people’s health tends to be better.
Pupil:
Why might living in housing in a poorer area affect someone’s health?
Doctor:
Living in a poorer environment can badly affect someone ’s health.
Children living in poorer areas are more likely to suffer from accidents
both in the home and on the roads and are more likely to suffer illnesses
and disease. Living in an inner-city housing estate with higher violent
crime rates means young people – particularly young men – are more
likely to be the victims of violent crime leading to serious injury or
death than people living in privately owned housing in suburban areas.
Traffic and factory pollution is also higher in inner -city areas where
there is cheaper housing – this pollution will also affect the health of
people living in these areas.
Pupil:
How can someone’s lifestyle affect their health?
Doctor:
There is no doubt that lifestyle, diet and smoking can all affect health.
A person’s lifestyle can have a significant effect on their health. A
poorer diet and lack of exercise can lead to obesity and other health
problems. Living in a poorer quality house in a deprived area, as well
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
as choosing to live unhealthily by smoking, drinking alcohol
excessively and taking drugs can contribute to health problems.
Better off people are more likely to eat fresh fruit every day, to stay
healthy. Although most people are now eating more fruit than before,
men in poorer families are least likely to eat fruit regularly.
Statistics show that people living in better off areas are less likely to
smoke and are less likely to smoke during pregnancy. People in poorer
areas are more likely to smoke, damaging their own and their children’s
health. They are also more likely to smoke during pregnancy leading to
less healthy babies with lower birth weights.
Pupil:
Why is obesity such a big health problem today?
Doctor:
Compared to children in 1960, children nowadays are less active by 800
calories per day, but eat 50% more fat than children in 1960, so the
population is getting fatter much younger. During last 25 years, the rate
of obesity in adults has quadrupled (multiplied by four) in th e UK. In
England, 43% of men and 34% of women were classified as overweight
and 22% of men and 23% of women were classified as clinically obese.
This means that over half of all adults weigh more than their
recommended weight. (OECD 2005)
Pupil:
What health problems can obesity lead to?
Doctor:
Obesity can lead to a variety of health problems. These include:




high blood pressure
coronary heart disease
osteoarthritis
diabetes.
Pupil:
How big a problem is obesity for the NHS today?
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Doctor:
A National Audit Office Study from 2002 estimated that obesity cost
the NHS £500 million a year and the cost to the country overall has
been put at up to £7.4 billion per year. A 1998 news report in the
Herald newspaper described the increase in the number of diabetes
cases caused by bad diet as ‘the diabetes time bomb’. Between now and
2010, the number of Type II diabetes sufferers will increase from 1
million to 3 million, as a result of consuming:




consuming too many cakes and biscuits
drinking fizzy drinks
having fatty diet
not taking enough exercise.
Pupil:
Does obesity affect men and women equally?
Doctor:
Women are more likely to be obese than men. Women in poorer areas
are more likely to be obese than women in better-off areas, but obesity
is affecting men in both poor and wealthy areas.
Pupil:
Does obesity affect poorer people more than better off people?
Doctor:
Obesity levels are higher amongst lower social classes (poorer people).
10% of the wealthiest families are obese, but 25% of the poorest
families are obese.
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Tasks
1.
You have to carry out an investigation to find out about the social
and economic factors leading to poor health.
(a)
Find websites you could use to carry out an investigation – use
keywords from the list of social and economic factors leading to
poor health, and enter these into a search engine to find websites
with information that will help you with your investigation.
(b)
You should find at least one website for each social and economic
factor in the list above.
(c)
Choose one social or economic factor – give a summary of the
information you found from the internet about the link between
this factor and poor health.
(d)
As an extension task, find evidence from the internet to support
the doctor’s comments. For example, find evidence showing that
obesity is a big problem for the NHS.
2.
Using the graph below, answer the following questions:
(a)
Which country has the highest obesity rate?
(b)
Does the UK have a higher rate of obesity than Denmark? Give
evidence (figures) to support your answer.
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
3.
Using the graph below, give evidence to support the following
statements:
(a)
‘Girls’ obesity rates are higher than boys’ obesity rates.’
(b)
‘The level of obesity in boys is increasing over time.’
(c)
‘The level of obesity in girls is increasing over time.’
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Smoking, morbidity and mortality
People in better off areas are more likely to take regular exercise, eat a
healthy well-balanced diet and are less likely to smoke or drink heavily.
Better-off people are also less likely to smoke during pregnancy,
reducing the chances of under weight babies being born to better off
families. We can find evidence from the internet to show that people in
poorer areas are more likely to have poorer health as they are more
likely to smoke.
Tasks
Look at the following website:
http://www.clearingtheairscotland.com/facts/statistics.html
 Click on the ‘Smoking Attributable Mortality’ tab which shows the
percent of people who smoke in different areas of Scotland.
 Compare smoking rates in ‘Strathkelvin & Bearsden’ with smoking
rates in ‘Shettleston’.
1.
What conclusions can you make about the number of people
smoking in ‘Strathkelvin & Bearsden’ and ‘Shettleston’?
2.
Give evidence from the webpage to support your conclusion, using
the ‘Per 100K’ figures on the webpage, you can show how many
people living in these two areas will die of smoking-related illness
per 100,000 people.
3.
How many people per 100,000 will die of smoking-related illness
in the area you live in?
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
Discussion
With a partner, brainstorm reasons why people in poorer areas are more
likely to smoke than people in better off areas. Write down your ideas.
Some ideas to help your brainstorming:
 People in better off areas may be more educated about the health
risks of smoking for themselves and their children .
 Lower income families may be more stressed and worried about
paying the bills – smoking may be seen by some people as the only
‘luxury’ they enjoy.
 What other reasons can you think of?
Discuss your ideas with another pair of pupils in the class – share ideas
and note down any points made by the other pair that you didn ’t think
of in your own brainstorming pair.
Link between diet, social class and ill health
People in social classes A (higher managers, professionals) and B (sales
managers, administrators, teachers) are more likely to eat a healthy diet
than people in social classes D (semi-skilled manual workers, e.g.
factory worker) and E (unskilled, e.g. cleaner, labourer). As a result of
this difference in diet, there is a difference in the likelihood of
suffering from a number of chronic (incurable) illnesses.
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HEALTH INEQUALITIES
In 1993, a Government Working Party produced the ‘James Report’ on
Scotland’s diet.
The Report confirmed Scotland’s poor eating habits and identified it as
one of the main causes of Scotland’s poor health record. Poor diet was
the reason why Scotland had the highest rates of mortality in the
Western world, the highest morbidity rates from coronary heart disease,
cancer and stroke, and a poor dental record.
Tasks
1.
Why does Scotland have the highest rate of mortality (early death)
in the Western world?
2.
What health problems are caused by poor diet?
3.
Compare the number of people suffering from heart disease per
100,000 people between families in social classes A and E. Use
figures to write a conclusion about the link between social class/
poverty and heart disease.
‘There is no link
between social
class and
respiratory health
problems.’
4.
Using the table above, give evidence to
oppose the view of Mrs Boyle about social
class and respiratory health problems.
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Respiratory health
problems:
This means health
problems of the
lungs, difficulty
breathing, e.g.
bronchitis.
PROVIDING HEALTHCARE
Chapter 2: Providing healthcare
Meeting Scotland’s health needs – health provision by the
NHS
Healthcare provided by the NHS can be divided into two categories –
primary care and secondary care.
Primary care
Primary care is healthcare provided in the local community rather than
in a hospital. Primary care includes:
 General practitioners (GPs) – give prescriptions for medicines,
vaccinations, referrals to hospital for treatment
 NHS dentists – provide check-ups and treatment of dental problems
 NHS opticians – provide eyesight testing and provision of
contribution towards cost of optical prescriptions
 NHS prescriptions from the chemist – NHS and patients pay a
contribution towards the cost of each item, NHS pays full cost for
children and elderly
 NHS mental health services – counsellors to help sufferers of, for
example, depression
Secondary care
Services provided by medical specialists who generally do not have
first contact with patients (e.g., cardiologist, urologists, dermatologists,
physiotherapists). Normally patients must first seek care from primary
care providers (e.g. their GP) and are then referred to secondary and/or
tertiary care providers, such as specialist cancer care, neurosurgery
(brain surgery), burns care and plastic surgery services.
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PROVIDING HEALTHCARE
Secondary care includes:
 Acute care – this is the treatment of a disease for only a short period
of time in which a patient is treated for a brief but severe episode of
illness. Many hospitals have acute care facilities with the goal of
discharging the patient as soon as the patient is deemed healthy and
stable, with appropriate discharge instructions.
 Geriatric care – health promotion and the prevention and treatment of
disease and disability of older people.
 Maternity care – care for pregnant mothers, new mothers and their
newborn babies
 Paediatrics – the medical care of infants, and children – for example,
hospitals for sick children
 Mental health services – for example, special hospital care for people
with various mental disorders.
Tasks
Using a search engine, such as Google, find a website for each of the
five primary and secondary care services mentioned above. Use these
websites to write at least three sentences explaining the kind of work
done by each service.
To help you with the first primary care example, the work of a GP,
there are some links below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_care
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Practitioners
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PROVIDING HEALTHCARE
Care in the community
Tasks
Copy and complete the paragraphs below, using the word box
underneath.
Care in the ______________ is a system where elderly or ill people live
at home for as long as possible, and receive special help and attention
there, rather than in ___________. This can include home helps, meals
on wheels, regular visits from doctors and ____________ and help from
the social work department. Supporters of ___________ in the
community say it’s better for the old person because it gives them more
______________. Opponents of care in the community say that
sometimes old people are virtually abandoned once they leave hospital
with no help at all when they can do little for __________________.
______________ people make big demands on the National Health
Service. They see their _____________ more frequently than other
groups and are given many more _________________. They also take
up a large number of hospital beds, for both acute and chronic
conditions. Acute conditions can be treated. Chronic conditions will
never be cured, but efforts can be made to make an older person more
‘comfortable’. Elderly people do not ____________ for their
prescriptions and, like everyone else, they’re entitled to free healthcare
through the NHS. There’s a ___________ number of older people in the
population, so they are becoming a bigger burden on healthcare
_____________.
themselves
hospital
prescriptions
Community
nurses
pay
independence
doctor
growing
care
Elderly
services
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PROVIDING HEALTHCARE
How healthcare needs are met
A number of organisations are involved in meeting Scotland ’s
healthcare needs. These include:




the Scottish Parliament
voluntary groups
local authorities
the private sector.
The Scottish Parliament
The National Health Service in Scotland (NHS Scotland) Healthcare
policy and funding is now the responsibility of the Scottish Executive
(the civil servants who carry out laws passed by the Scottish
Parliament). The leader of the Scottish Executive Health Department is
also chief executive of NHS Scotland.
Healthcare in Scotland is provided by NHS Boards in 14 local Scottish
areas and a number of Special Health Boards. There are no longer any
NHS Trusts in Scotland; instead, the hospitals not managed by Special
Health Boards are managed by the local NHS Board. Provision of
community healthcare and most mental healthcare is also the
responsibility of local Boards. Local Health Boards are supported by a
number of Special Health Boards including:
 Scottish Ambulance Service (which provides hospitals with
ambulance services).
 State Hospitals Board for Scotland (which provides high security
care for mentally ill prisoners or people who might harm others or
themselves).
 NHS 24 (which runs a 24-hour telephone helpline giving people in
Scotland advice or access to a doctor outwith normal GP surgery
hours).
Laws passed by the British government in London affect everyone in
the UK. However, the Scottish Parliament is able to pass laws on a
number of issues including healthcare, which affect people living in
Scotland only. Therefore, the Scottish Parliament has passed laws that
give some people in Scotland different healthcare provision from those
living in England.
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PROVIDING HEALTHCARE
Free personal care for the elderly was one of the landmark decisions of
the first Scottish Parliament. An elderly person in England who requires
help with things like bathing, feeding and dressing, would have to pay
for these services either in a nursing home or in their own home. The
Scottish Parliament rules that this care should be provided free for
elderly people in Scotland, paid for through tax paid by working people
in Scotland. The British government in Westminster decided that this
care would not be free across all of the UK as it was too expensive.
In Scotland, the Personal and Nursing Care policy has benefited nearly
50,000 older people in Scotland, allowing many older people to be
cared for at home.
Other legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament that promotes better
health includes the law which banned smoking in public places, which
started on 26 March 2006. The new law bans smoking in public places –
it is now an offence to smoke, or to allow people to smoke, in public
places like hotels, restaurants, pubs and railway stations. This law was
introduced in Scotland (and in July 2007 in England) to protect the
general public from the harmful effects of passive smoking. Breathing
other people’s smoke is called passive, involuntary or second -hand
smoking.
Tasks
1.
How is healthcare in Scotland organised?
2.
Give examples of Special Health Boards and the work they do.
3.
What laws has the Scottish Parliament passed to improve health in
Scotland?
Health promotion – campaigns to promote better health
The Scottish Parliament has funded a number of services that promote
better health in Scotland. Health Scotland is a health improvement
agency that provides guidance and support for people working in
Scotland’s health education, health improvement and health promotion
jobs. Working with the Scottish Executive and other organisations,
Health Scotland works to improve health and reduce health inequalities
in Scotland. Particular areas of interest include the impact on health of
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PROVIDING HEALTHCARE
alcohol, drugs and smoking, immunisation and screening programmes
to prevent/detect serious conditions and promoting better health through
researching the link between better diet and better health.
Tasks
1.
What does Health Scotland do?
Voluntary sector healthcare provision
A number of voluntary organisations are also involved in meeting
Scotland’s health needs. A network of several hundred voluntary
organisations called ‘Voluntary Health Scotland’ is involved in working
with the NHS in Scotland to improve Scotland’s health. These
organisations help to give people information about available health
services. Voluntary organisations campaign to make sure everyone in
Scotland, including the poorest families, has access to healthcare
facilities. The voluntary sector works to make sure that the opportunity
to live a healthy life is not only available to better off families.
Tasks
1.
Describe the work of Voluntary Health Scotland
Local authorities, healthcare and health promotion
There are 32 directly elected local authorities in Scotland that provide
local services and receive a large part of their funding from the Scottish
Executive.
Local councils try to promote better health by providing a number of
services that contribute to cleaner and safer environments to live in.
Local councils organise services including refuse collection, recycling
centres, and pest control for problems with rodents, insects or birds.
Councils may also organise inspections of businesses selling food, to
make sure people’s health is not at risk.
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PROVIDING HEALTHCARE
People on lower incomes apply to their local council for free school
meals and help with the cost of providing school clothing.
Finally, local authorities are responsible for promoting health
programmes in schools. The Scottish Executive’s ‘Hungry for Success’
report has encouraged councils to make sure meals provided in schools
are healthy and nutritious. The health of school children is being
improved through other council programmes including the provision of
free milk to all pupils in nursery schools. In primary and special
schools, children entitled to free school meals also qualify for free
milk. Programmes to encourage school pupils to eat a healthier diet
have been set up in some councils, where pupils can buy fruit at low
cost, or free if entitled to a free school meal.
Tasks
1.
How many local councils are there in Scotland?
2.
How can a local council promote better health?
3.
What can lower income families get from their local council?
4.
Describe the programmes introduced by councils in Scottish
schools to improve health and diet.
The private sector and healthcare
Private companies are also involved in meeting Scotland’s healthcare
needs.
Private healthcare
Use of private healthcare has increased in recent years, due largely to
more employers offering membership of schemes (such as BUPA or
AXA PPP) as part of a package benefits to staff.
Most people in Scotland who access private healthcare are still
registered with an NHS GP. It is when they are referred for specialist
treatment or for an operation that they may choose to use private rather
than NHS healthcare. Private healthcare is medical treatment paid for
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PROVIDING HEALTHCARE
privately by an individual (or an individual’s employer) rather than by
the NHS. Along with private medical insurance, private healthcare
includes policies such as dental plans and cash plans.
The private healthcare sector includes services such as:












private hospitals
private doctors and specialists
private medical insurance
cosmetic surgery
dentistry
care of the elderly
DNA testing
health screening
private nursing care
private maternity services
private physiotherapists
private sports injury clinics.
Patients waiting for an operation at an NHS hospital will probably have
to join a long waiting list, and could wait a longer time for their
operations than patients requiring the same operation who can afford to
attend a private hospital.
Some people say that private healthcare creates inequality – people who
can afford private care will have treatments quicker – and possibly
receive better quality care – than those who must use the NHS.
Moreover, private hospitals only carry out operations which will make
the hospital a high profit; for all other operations and more costly
treatment like treatment for long-term illness, the NHS is still needed.
Others argue that people who work hard and save money can choose to
spend their money on whatever they like, including private healthcare.
Private medical insurance covers the costs of private medical treatment
for what is known as ‘acute’ conditions (diseases, illnesses or injuries
that will respond quickly to treatment). In general, private medical
insurance does not cover the treatment of long-term and incurable
illnesses.
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PROVIDING HEALTHCARE
The National Health Service does a very good job under difficult
conditions in looking after the nation’s health. Yet many people choose
to go private to avoid the long waiting lists associated with some NHS
treatments.
Private patients can usually choose when and where treatment will take
place, and by which specialist. Private patients will usually enjoy a
private hospital room with ensuite, TV and other home comforts.
Tasks
1.
What does the private healthcare sector include? List five services
it provides.
2.
How might someone waiting for an operation benefit from private
healthcare?
3.
What criticisms have been made of private healthcare?
4.
What do others say in support of private healthcare?
Public private partnerships (PPP) and healthcare
Public-private partnership (PPP) is a system in which a government
service, such as healthcare, is funded and operated through a
partnership of government and one or more private companies. These
schemes are sometimes referred to as PPP.
In some types of PPP, the government uses tax money to fund the
building of, for example, a new hospital, with services provided in that
hospital such as laundry, catering and cleaning by private companies.
This is called ‘contracting out’.
In other types of PPP, such as a Private Finance Initiative (PFI),
money to build a hospital is provided by private companies, who may
also have a contract to provide certain services within the hospital once
built. The government may agree to contribute NHS property and
equipment from an old hospital which might be closing. The
government then pays ‘rent’ to the private company that owns the
building, and uses the new hospital for NHS patients.
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PROVIDING HEALTHCARE
Some people say healthcare services can not be run by companies who
just want to make a profit, and the government will pay more money
back in the long term, renting these new hospitals, than it would have
just building the hospital using tax money. Other people have argued
that without private money, many new hospitals would simply never
have been built including the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, as the
government did not have enough money. They also argue that
healthcare services will be run more efficiently by private companies.
Tasks
1.
Briefly explain how ‘contracting out’ works in hospitals.
2.
Who pays for the building of a new PFI hospital?
3.
What does the government have to do to allow the new hospita l to
be used by the NHS?
4.
What criticisms have been made of private companies running
services in hospitals?
5.
Why might the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary not have been
built?
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POVERTY
Section 3: Poverty
There are several definitions of poverty. The main understandings of
the term ‘poverty’ include:
 Absolute poverty means not having the necessities of daily living
(food, clothing, shelter and healthcare). Absolute poverty in this
sense may be understood as being deprived of essential goods and
services.
 Relative poverty means not having sufficient income and wealth
compared to the average family of that country. Relative poverty
means not having material things/luxury items to participate fully in
daily life.
 Social exclusion is a new, broader term used by the government to
describe poverty. Social exclusion means not being able to have
social relationships, feeling excluded from society, not being able to
fully participate in society, through lack of things like employment,
education, information access to healthcare and other services.
Social exclusion is when individuals or whole areas suffer from
several linked problems including unemployment, poor skills, low
incomes, poor housing, living in areas of high crime, bad health and
family breakdown.
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POVERTY
Tasks
1.
2.
Give a short definition of:
(a)
absolute poverty
(b)
relative poverty
(c)
social exclusion.
Make a list of things required for human survival (necessities) and
things that make life more pleasant (luxuries)
Necessities
3.
Luxuries
Extension task: Design a poster that shows a ‘Necessities’ section
and a ‘Luxuries’ section. Be sure to explain in your poster that
poorer families can not afford many of the things in the ‘Luxuries’
section.
Absolute poverty
Developing countries
The most severe poverty is in the developing world, including some
countries in Africa. Poverty may be seen as the condition of poor
people, or of poor groups.
Entire countries are sometimes regarded as poor as most people in those
countries are living in poverty. These countries are usually called
developing countries.
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POVERTY
A developing country is a country with a relatively low standard of
living; most people live on a low income and there is widespread
poverty.
Tasks
4.
Where is the most severe poverty in the world?
5.
Why could an entire country be said to be poor?
6.
What is a ‘developing country’?
Extension task
Choose one of the stories in the ‘Latest News’ section of the ‘Save The
Children’ website (http://www.savethechildren.org). Write a newspaper
article about how Save The Children has been trying to end absolute
poverty and help people in developing countries.
More details about absolute poverty
People living in absolute poverty means that they lack the basic things
required to survive. An example of an absolute poverty measurement
would be the percentage of the population eating less food than is
required to keep the human body alive (approximately 2,000–2,500
kilocalories per day).
Tasks
7.
What does absolute poverty mean?
8.
Give an example of a way of measuring absolute poverty.
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POVERTY
Relative poverty
Relative poverty means that people are poor or have a much lower
income compared with (relative to) the average person in their country.
Relative poverty is defined as household income below 60 % of the
UK’s median income. The median is the income earned by the
household in the middle of the income distribution, between the highest
and lowest income families.
In the year 2004/05, the middle income was worth £183 per week for a
two adult household, £100 per week for a single adult, £268 per week
for two adults living with two children, and £186 per week for a single
adult living with two children. This sum of money is after things like
rent and council tax have been deducted, so it is what a household has
available to spend on everything else it needs like food, clothes and
heating.
It is important to notice that even if the income of everyone in the UK
increases, and the average income of families in the UK increases, some
people will still earn much lower than this new average income so
relative poverty will remain.
Tasks
9.
What does relative poverty mean?
10. Give an example of a way of measuring relative poverty.
11. What was the median income for a two adult household in
2004/05?
12. What things might families living in relative poverty be unable to
afford for their children?
13. Why has relative poverty remained in the UK even when average
incomes have increased?
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POVERTY
14. Copy and complete the following paragraph, using the word box
below.
People living in _____________ poverty lack the basic things required
to ____________. Although most people in the UK do have the basic
things they need, there is certainly ______________ poverty in the UK.
The phrase relative poverty can also be to mean a standard of living or
level of income which required to satisfy basic needs (like water, food,
clothing, shelter, and basic ______________), but which is still much
lower than that of most families in the UK.
survive
absolute
relative
healthcare
Homelessness
There is evidence of poverty in every region. Even in developed
countries like the UK and the USA, there are homeless people. These
are people who lack housing, or live in or spend most nights in a
supervised public or private facility providing temporary
accommodation. Some live or sleep in a public or private place not
really designed for sleeping accommodation for human beings. This is
known as ‘sleeping rough’.
Tasks
15.
Explain what is meant by the term ‘homeless’ people.
16.
Where might a homeless person live or ‘sleep rough’?
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POVERTY
Living in poverty
In 1999, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair promised to end
Median income:
This means the
child poverty in the UK by 2020. He set his government a
‘middle’ income
target of lifting a million children out of poverty by 2005.
of all incomes in
The government has succeeded in helping 700,000 children
the population.
out of poverty, but there are still 3.4 million children living
in poverty (living on an income below 60% of median income) in the
UK today. About 1 million children live in severe poverty, which is
defined as living on an income of less than 40% of the median income.
Tasks
1.
What target did Tony Blair set his government in 1999?
2.
Did the government manage to do this? Give evidence to support
your answer.
3.
How many children are still living in poverty today?
Families living in relative poverty have tough decision to make about
how to spend their money. Many poorer families will struggle to bu y
their children new clothes (for example warm clothing for winter),
which means these children will be more likely to suffer from colds and
other illnesses in winter time.
Many poor families can not afford to give their children a healthy
balanced diet. Poorer families will give their children cheaper food,
which contains less nourishment and which is likely to be high in salt,
fat and sugar.
The houses of many families living in relative poverty will have damp
or rotting floors and walls. Unable to afford to buy a good quality
house, many of the poorest families are forced to accept housing no one
else wants to live in – the lowest quality rented housing available from
the local authority (council) or private landlords.
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Finally, families living in poverty will struggle to pay household bills
like the heating bill, as they have a much lower income than the average
family in the UK.
Poorer families in the UK have to make difficult decisions about what
to spend their money on. Some families have to decide which basic
things their children will have and which things they will do without.
A poorer family might have to choose for example, to spend money on
either:
 a healthy, nutritional dinner for the family OR
 winter coats and hats for the children.
 paying the heating bill OR
 replacing the children’s worn out shoes with new shoes for the cold
weather.
Tasks
4.
For each of the above decisions, what choice would you make?
Give reasons for your choices.
Fuel poverty
A family living in fuel poverty struggles to keep its house warm at
reasonable cost. A fuel poor household is one that needs to spend more
than 10% of its income on all fuel use and to heat the home to a
reasonably comfortable standard of warmth.
Tasks
5.
What does a family living in fuel poverty struggle to do?
6.
How much of the family income will a family living in fuel
poverty spend on fuel and heating?
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POVERTY
The cost of heating a home has increased recently. The average annual
family fuel bill is more than £1,000 and a lot of this is spent heating the
house during the winter. Low-income families with young children have
less money to spend on heating their homes but they spend more time at
home as they are not working, so they have to have the heating on
during the day. This means bigger heating bills for lower income
families – they will spend over 10% of their income on heating bills
meaning that they are living in fuel poverty. Better-off people with jobs
are out of the house most of the day at work, so don’t need to have their
heating on, so their heating bills are lower. Poorer families with less
income have additional money worries during the winter months. The
extra expense of buying winter clothing for children as well as paying
for Christmas presents and extra food for the Christmas holidays means
this time of year is difficult for families with less money.
Tasks
7.
Why are heating bills higher for many lower income families?
8.
What other expenses might poorer families face during the winter
months?
Money worries during the holidays
There are other times of year that cause money worries for lower
income families. When children from lower income families are at
school they will get a free school meal but during the holiday their
family will have to provide a lunch. Therefore, these families have to
buy extra food during the long school holiday.
Poorer families will be less likely to afford the luxury of a summer
holiday abroad. Even the costs of local summer activities or trips and of
sending their children back to school (with school uniform and PE kit)
can be very difficult for lower income families to afford.
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Tasks
9.
Why do poorer families have to buy extra food during the school
summer holidays?
10. Why does the long school summer holiday mean additional money
problems for low income families?
Extension task – Letter to your MP
Write a letter to your MP asking what is being done by the Government
to end to poverty in the UK.
Make sure you include sentences in your letter that explain to the MP:
Who you are – I am a Modern Studies pupil at ... (school)
Why you are writing a letter – I am writing to find out …
What exactly you would like to know – I would like to know how the
Government plans to help families living in relative poverty …
Also:
Thank the MP for taking the time to read your letter
Mention that you hope to receive a reply - ‘I look forward to hearing
from you …
To find the address of your MP, you can look at the following website:
http://www.locata.co.uk/commons
Life chances
Children growing up in poorer families have fewer ‘life
chances’. This means they can expect to get fewer
qualifications, lower-paid jobs, suffer more health problems,
and die younger than children growing up in better off families.
Families living in relative poverty might not be able to afford
treats for their children, so they are unable to take part in those
SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK (ACCESS 3, MODERN STUDIES)
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Life chances: This
means the
opportunity to live
in decent
accommodation,
have good health
and education, and
access to a range of
services. It can also
be linked to life
expectancy.
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POVERTY
childhood activities enjoyed by children growing up in better-off
families. For example, poorer families will be unable to afford to send
their children on school trips or to take their children to the cinema.
Tasks
11. How might poorer life chances affect children in lower income
families?
12. What kind of things are lower income families unable to afford for
their children?
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Case study 1
I’d like to join the local football
team so that after school I could
go to football training and at the
weekends I could play matches.
My mum says she can’t afford
pay the training costs. Some of
my friends play for the team but I
can’t go.
Case study 2
My two best friends are going on
the school trip to Germany this
year. I would really love to go too
but my dad says he can’t manage
to pay for the cost of the trip just
now, as he’s unemployed. I wish I
lived in a wealthy family like my
two friends!
Tasks
13. Diary entry. Choose one of the case studies above, and write an
entry in your diary explaining how you feel about not being able to
do the things your friends can do because they have more money.
You could begin like this:
Dear diary
I am not very happy today because…
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POVERTY
Tasks
Whole class activity – poverty statements
Your teacher will put four signs in the corners of the room –
Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree and Strongly Disagree.
Your teacher will read out some statements about poverty. You must
choose a sign to stand by. For each statement, do you strongly agree,
agree, disagree or strongly disagree?
One pupil or the teacher should count how many people have chosen
each sign and write the majority view on the board or flipchart. For
example:
 Statement 1: Growing up in poverty doesn’t harm children.
 Result: Most pupils strongly disagreed
You should be prepared to offer a reason for your choice of sign for
each statement – your teacher will ask one person from each sign group
to explain their reasons for their answer.
At the end of the class activity, you will have heard different opinions
about poverty and the statements read out by your teacher.
 Have the views offered by other pupils in the class changed your
mind about any of the statements?
 Has anyone else changed their mind?
Statements about poverty









52
Growing up in poverty doesn’t harm children.
Families don’t need to have money to make their children happy.
People living in poverty could work harder to get out of it.
Families are poor because they spend too much money on things like
alcohol and cigarettes.
The government should help people living in poverty.
It’s possible for everyone to have enough money to live comfortably.
Anyone can get a good job, even if you come from a poor family.
If your parents are poor, as an adult you will also be poor.
People with more money should pay more to the government to help
pay for social services and other help for poorer families.
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Poverty – games and online resources
 To find out more about Poverty in the UK, try the Save The Children
quiz.
http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/endchildpoverty/mb/1.htm
 Play the ‘Life Shop’ game to find out how difficult it is for families
living on a low income to buy all the things they need. You must
make choices about the things you spend your low income on!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6140000/newsid_6143000/6
143086.stm
 Play the Poverty Maze game. Your teacher will help you to download
various documents for you to play this game. Go to the Save The
Children website: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk. Click on
resources, then click on global learning resources.
Scroll down the page to ‘Teaching activities and resources about
poverty in the UK’. Each team of players will need to download one
copy of:






Instructions
Poverty Maze Budget Sheet
Poverty Maze
MPs notice and fundraising cards
Cost Cards
Extension Questions
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POVERTY
Causes of poverty
Some factors that might cause poverty include:








unemployment
low paid work
the system of benefits payments
family structure
gender
race
disability
being born into a poor family.
Unemployment: If there are few jobs available, or people lack the
skills and qualifications to get a reasonably well-paid job, this will
create more relative poverty. These unemployed families will depend
on benefits, and will therefore have a lower income and standard of
living than working families.
Low pay: It would be wrong to think that only unemployed people live
on low incomes. Some people are working but still live in relative
poverty. They work in jobs requiring little or no skills or qualifications
and are therefore paid lower wages. These people are called the
‘working poor’. Many families living in poverty have one or more
adults working in low paid jobs. By further increasing the National
Minimum Wage (the lowest wage employers can pay to workers) the
government could help the lowest earning families in the UK and help
reduce relative poverty.
About 30% of Scotland’s workforce – more than 500,000 employees –
was paid less than £6.50 per hour in 2005. Although this is above the
minimum wage, it is still below the pay level suggested by the Scottish
Low Pay Unit – an independent organisation that is committed to
improving the position of low-paid workers in Scotland. In the UK, 5
million employees aged 22 and over are low paid. Half of part -time
workers currently earn less than £6.50 an hour, three-quarters of them
women. Education level also affects pay. Better educated people (e.g.
with Highers) are more likely to have better paid jobs; working aged
adults without any Highers are twice as likely to work in low-paid jobs
earning less than £6.50 per hour.
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Benefits system: The system of benefit payments may not help all
families living in poverty. For example, Child Benefit is paid at a
higher rate only for the first child in a family. This really helps families
with fewer children. Larger families living in relative poverty with
several young children would benefit from higher Child Benefit
payments for all children. Childcare Tax Credit helps lower income
families pay for 70% of the costs of registered childcare for up to two
children. Parents of larger working families would have to pay for all of
the childcare cost for any additional children.
Benefits are designed to give a basic standard of living for those who
are unable to provide this for themselves. The government tries to make
sure that people who are working and earning are better off than people
who rely only on benefits. They do this by keeping benefits payments
relatively low.
Family structure: Families with two parents working might have a
higher income than families with only one parent working. Families
with parents who are employed will have a higher income than
unemployed families that rely on benefits from the government.
Single parents may be unable to work as they have childcare
commitments, or are only able to look for low-paid part time work
which fits in with their childcare commitments. Therefore, single parent
families are more likely to be living on a lower income than two parent
families. Half of all lone parents are on a low income.
The proportion of children living in workless households in the UK is
the highest in Europe. This is mainly due to the high number of
workless lone-parent households and, as a result, half of all children
living with one parent are living in poverty.
Gender: Women are significantly more likely than men to live in
poverty. If most single parent families are single mothers, and half of
all single parents live on a low income, then women are more likely to
live on benefits as they are unable to look for work due to childcare
commitments.
Women, in general spend more time not working (out of the labour
market) than men as they stop working to have/bring up children. This
reduces women’s individual income. Government figures show that
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POVERTY
almost half of all women in the UK have total individual incomes of
under £100 per week, compared with less than a fifth of men.
Finally, there is a gap between the average pay of women and men.
Women working in full-time jobs earn just under a fifth less per hour
than men on average. As a result, women are more likely to live on a
lower income than men.
Older women who live alone, as well as single mothers, do not have the
additional income of a partner to rely on, and so are at greater risk of
living in poverty.
Race: People from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to live
in a low income family. There are a number of reasons for this. Racial
discrimination creates unequal opportunities for people from ethnic
minority backgrounds; for example, they are less likely to get well-paid
jobs possibly because of discrimination by employers, although this is
difficult to prove. This forces many ethnic minorities to take lower paid
work, meaning these families will have lower incomes.
English is not the first language of many ethnic minority families.
Language difficulties when completing application forms for jobs or
attending interviews will mean these groups are less likely to do well at
interview and be given a job. Language difficulties may also discourage
many ethnic minority families from applying for benefits they are
entitled to as they are living on low incomes. Some families may be
unwilling to apply for means tested benefits which they see as ‘charity’.
Disability: The elderly, the long-term sick and disabled people make up
most people living on low incomes and receiving benefits. People with
physical or mental disabilities are more likely to live on low incomes.
About 30% of disabled adults (one in every three) are living in poverty;
this is double the rate among non-disabled adults and is higher than it
was in the 1990s.
Disabled people are also more likely to be unemployed: 38% of
disabled men and 37% of disabled women are in paid employment,
compared to 81% of men and 69% of women with no disability. Some
of this difference is due to the fact that a large number of disabled
people are permanently unable to work. 46% of men and 34% of women
of working age with a disability were unable to work; only 2% of men
and 1% of women with no disability are unable to work. The result of
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this is that people with disabilities are more likely to live on lower
incomes.
Born to poor parents: The gap between children born to wealthier and
poorer parents can be seen in the fate of boys born to rich and poor
fathers. Sons born to parents from the richest fifth of the population
tend to earn more than those born into families in the poorest fifth of
the population.
Children whose parents work in a professional job (for example,
doctors or lawyers) are more than twice as likely to end up in well-paid
professional jobs as adults than children whose parents work in skilled
or unskilled manual jobs (factory, building and construction trades).
Children born into poorer families tend to leave school with fewer
qualifications than children from better-off families. This means
children from poorer families will be more likely to work in lower-paid
jobs, and will be more likely to live a lower income as a pens ioner.
Therefore, poverty is passed from parents to their children, from
generation to generation. Children whose parents are unemployed are
more likely to be unemployed themselves when they are of working
age. They will leave school earlier and they will work in lower paid
jobs throughout their life.
Tasks – ethnic minority poverty
From the following website, find evidence showing that:
 Ethnic minority families are more likely to be unemployed
 Pakistani women are more likely to be unemployed than ot her groups
of women.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2682139.stm
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POVERTY
Tasks – women’s poverty
Read the following newspaper report about older women’s poverty in
the UK.
The Guardian, on 7 November 2005, reported:
‘… fewer than one in 10 people know about the real horror confronting
women, which is that so few qualify for the basic state pension. The
reason is hard-wired in the way we live, which is the greater likelihood
of women, not men, caring for children and older relatives; therefore
taking paid work in dribs and drabs; and therefore failing to
accumulate the 35 years of (National Insurance) contributions needed
(to qualify for the full state pension). The vast majority of part -time
workers are women, and the pension system is not set up to
accommodate part-timers.
Result? Just 16% of recently retired women are entitled to the full state
pension. And a fifth of single women pensioners face poverty. More and
more marriages break down – half end in divorce and four in 10 women
in the years coming up to retirement will soon not be married… so this
is a problem getting worse, not better.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/columnist/story/0,9321,1635881,00.html
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1.
How many years must someone pay National Insurance in order to
receive a full state pension?
2.
Why are women less likely to qualify for a full state pension?
3.
Give evidence from the article which shows that few recently
retired women in the UK received the full state pension.
4.
How could the pensions system be changed to help women?
Look at the source above. It shows male and female unemployment over
several years.
Using information from the source, write conclusions about:
 Male employment 1984–2001
 Female employment 1984–2001
 Male employment compared to female employment 1984–2001
Read ‘Could you get by on £50 a week?’ about Ann Green, who does
not qualify for the full state pension, on this page:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4386370.stm
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POVERTY
Answer the following questions:
1.
Why does Ann not qualify for the state pension?
2.
Why did Ann pay lower National Insurance Contributions?
3.
What problems has this led to for Ann?
4.
What is Pension Credit?
5.
Why does Ann not really want to claim this benefit?
6.
Does the information in the webpage support or oppose Mr
Mather’s statement below? Use figures to support your answer.
‘Many pensioners have not
claimed the new Pension
Credit’
7.
The state pension age for men and women will increase three times
by 2044, to make sure that people have paid enough National
Insurance contributions over a longer working life, so that the
government can pay them a full state pension. Using the webpage
below, complete the table to show each proposed rise in the age
for claiming the state pension.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5015928.stm
Age to qualify for full pension…
By the year…
years
2024
years
2034
68 years
20…
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Tasks – family structure and poverty
Look at the following website:
http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/389.asp
1.
What has happened to the number of lone parent non -working
families in the UK between the 1960s and 1990s?
2.
What has happened to the number of working two-parent families
over the same period?
3.
How might these changes affect:
(a)
the amount of money paid by the government in benefits?
(b)
the amount of income tax collected by the government from
working adults?
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POVERTY
Tasks – disability and poverty
Economic activity of Scottish disabled and non-disabled people of
working age (percentage)
Disabled
Non disabled
Disabled
Non disabled
Disabled
26.7%
77.9%
13.7%
6.4%
69.1%
Labour Force
Survey (Spring
2001–Winter
2002)
40.0%
81.5%
10.7%
6.3%
56.2%
Non disabled
16.8%
13.1%
Census 2001
In employment
Able to work but
unemployed
Economically inactive
(not working and
unable to work)
Source: Adapted from
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/01/20511/49765
2001 Census, Labour Force Survey Spring 2001–Winter 2002
1.
62
Copy each of the statements below about disability and
employment. All these statements are FALSE. Using figures from
the source above, give evidence to oppose each statement.
(a)
‘Disabled people are more likely to be in employment than
non-disabled people.’
(b)
‘Most unemployed disabled people are able to work but don ’t
have a job.’
(c)
‘The number of disabled people in employment decreased
between 2001 and 2002.’
(d)
‘Less than half of all disabled people are not working and are
unable to work.’
SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK (ACCESS 3, MODERN STUDIES)
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Tasks – born to poor parents and poverty
Answer the following questions using Ian Whittaker’s report ‘How The
Education System Has Failed The Poor’.
http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/client/downloads/WritersForum/
Education_Dec2006.pdf
1.
What reasons are given in the report to explain why children from
poorer families to less well at school? (page 3)
2.
In what year did the Government pass The Education Bill? (page 3)
3.
What evidence can you find to show that children from poorer
families do achieve less at school? (page 5)
Extension tasks
Write a report with the title ‘How poor is poor in the UK?’ Use the
following webpages, as well as any other sources of information you can
find, to write your report.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2566911.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2564613.stm
Answer the following questions:
(a)
What evidence can you find supporting the view that ‘the UK has one
of the worst poverty records in the European Union’?
(b)
In which city do some of the wealthiest and some of the poorest
people in the UK live?
(c)
Which region of the UK is the wealthiest?
(d)
Which region of the UK is the poorest?
(e)
Is inequality in the UK rising or falling? Give evidence from the
webpages to support your answer.
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TACKLING POVERTY
Section 4: Tackling poverty
Poverty can be tackled by a number of ways. Lower income families
can get help from the following organisations:





central government
Scottish Parliament
local government
voluntary sector
private sector.
Central Government
The UK Government (MPs in the House of Commons, London) has
attempted to tackle poverty and help families living on low incomes in
a number of ways.
Benefits system
The benefits system provides financial support for people who do not
have enough money to live on. For example, people who are
unemployed and looking for work will receive benefits. Unlike working
adults, these people will have no income from wages.
Benefits are also provided for people working in lower paid jobs who
need additional income for their families. Other people who receive
government benefits include people who are bringing up children,
retired people, disabled people and those who care for someone who is
ill.
Tasks
1.
What does the benefits system provide for some people?
2.
List some groups of people who might receive benefits.
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Jobcentre Plus
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) manages most benefits
through Jobcentre Plus offices.
Benefits and services for people of working age (for example,
Jobseeker’s Allowance) are managed by The Department for Work and
Pensions (DWP) through Jobcentre Plus offices around the country.
Tasks
1.
What government department manages most benefits?
Jobcentre Plus provides help with:




finding work
starting a business
managing on a low income
coping with illness or accidents caused by work.
Central government, through Jobcentre Plus, provides benefits and
services for families, including those:
 bringing up children, including children with special needs
 managing on a low income, including help with health costs such as
free prescriptions, eye tests and NHS dental treatment.
Tasks
1.
What help can Jobcentre Plus provide?
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TACKLING POVERTY
CSA
The Child Support Agency (CSA) is also part of the DWP. It is
responsible for running the child support system. The CSA calculates
and collects money (maintenance) from parents who do not live with
their child or children. If someone is bringing up a child who has a
parent living somewhere else in the UK, the other parent is legally
responsible for providing money to help look after their child. The
amount paid to the parent living with the child or children depends on
the income of the parent who does not live with the child(ren). The
more that parent earns, the more maintenance they will pay towards the
upkeep of any children.
Tasks
1.
What is the Child Support Agency (CSA)?
2.
How does the CSA help some children living in lone parent
families?
Pensions
Benefits and entitlements for pensioners are dealt with through a
network of pension centres, which provide a face-to-face service for
those who need additional help and support. The Pension Service looks
after benefits and entitlements such as the State Pension, Pension Credit
and Winter Fuel Payments (an annual payment to help older people
with their heating bills).
Tasks
1.
What benefits can lower-income elderly people receive?
2.
What is a Winter Fuel Payment?
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The Disability and Carers Service, which is part of the DWP, is
responsible for benefits and services for people who are sick or have a
disability, for example, Disability Living Allowance and Attendance
Allowance.
Tasks
1.
What benefits can some disabled people who can not work
receive?
Some benefits are arranged through other agencies or government
departments, such as local councils (see below) and Her Majesty’s
Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Grants
Low income families can apply for other benefits including help for
one-off expenses through the Social Fund. Maternity grants are
available to help with the costs of a new baby, and funeral payments
help poorer families pay for the expenses of a family funeral. A
Community Care Grant can help lower income families deal with
certain expensive situations such as setting up a new home after being
homeless. Grants do not have to be paid back, loans must be repaid.
Tasks
1.
What grants are available to help lower income families pay for
some expenses?
2.
What is the difference between a loan and a grant?
Loans
Budgeting Loans to help pay for expensive items that families living on
benefits cannot afford are paid back through deductions from any
benefits normally received by that family. This helps low income
families afford expensive, essential items like a washing machine.
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TACKLING POVERTY
Crisis loans provide help for people who need money quickly because
of expenses in an emergency or disaster. Crisis loans and other loans
have to be paid back to the Social Fund, from benefits payments
received after the loan is given, but they are interest -free so families do
not pay back more than they borrowed.
Tasks
1.
What loans can low incomes families apply for?
2.
Why might a family need a Crisis loan?
3.
Why might a family need a Budgeting loan?
4.
How can families repay these loans?
Means-tested benefits
To qualify for a particular benefit you must meet certain conditions that
the government specifies, called a means test. For example, to qualify
for Job Seeker’s Allowance, you would have to prove that you were
available for work and were actively looking for a job. People who are
not able to work (perhaps because of disability) or who are not able to
look for work (perhaps because of childcare commitments) would not
qualify for this benefit. These people may qualify for other benefits
such as Disability Living Allowance or Income Support.
Tasks
1.
What are means tested benefits?
2.
What must someone who wants to claim Job Seeker’s Allowance
be doing to qualify for this benefit?
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Attracting jobs to the UK
Scottish Development International aims to encourage foreign
businesses to set up in Scotland, especially in areas of high
unemployment. Foreign businesses may be offered reduced rent, help
with the cost of training new workers and even help with paying the
wages of someone who is given a job who was unemployed.
The government tries to reduce poverty and unemployment by
encouraging foreign businesses to set up new factories in an area of
high unemployment, in order to produce more of their product. This
‘inward investment’ creates jobs in that area and brings wealth into the
economy.
Tasks
1.
What can be done to attract businesses to the UK, to reduce
unemployment and poverty?
2.
What might foreign businesses be offered if they choose to set up
in an area of high unemployment?
Training and education
People who work in lower paid jobs and the unemployed are more
likely to live on a low income. Therefore, one way to tackle poverty is
to improve education and training opportunities, which will possibly
lead to employment or better paid work. Central government is thus
keen to improve education and training, particularly for groups most
likely to live in poverty.
Programme Centres are run on behalf of the Employment Service to
provide help for people looking for a job. Jobsearch and advice
programmes, sometimes known as Jobclubs, can help with interview
techniques and CV preparation. With this help, an unemployed person
will be more likely to find a job and increase their income.
Programme Centres provide help to unemployed people aged 25 and
over who have been out of work and claiming benefits for six months or
more. In some areas, jobseekers aged between 18 and 24 years old may
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have access to the programme. Some jobseekers may be able to have
immediate access to programme centres, such as unemployed people
with disabilities, people with literacy/numeracy problems, those who
are homeless, ex-offenders or people returning to work after looking
after a family.
Programme Centres provide training sessions which try to help
unemployed people become better at looking for a job. For example,
training sessions giving help with using the internet to look for work
might be provided.
People who have been unemployed for a long time will be living on a
low income. The government hopes to help these people increase their
income by providing training to help these people find work, and start
earning better incomes.
Telephone, word processor, newspapers, directories, stamps, stationery
and photocopying facilities are also provided to help unemployed
people look for a job.
Apprenticeship programmes help young people achieve higher level
vocational qualifications and skills. They are available mainly for 16
and 17 year old school and college leavers, but may be offered to
people aged 18 and over who can complete the apprenticeship before
the age of 25. Most apprentices are employed by the organisation with
which they train and are paid wages.
In Scotland, Training for Work provides training support for people
who are unemployed and actively looking for work. The programme –
run by Scottish Enterprise – allows people to gain skills and experience
through local employers who provide on-the-job training.
Normally, Training for Work is open to adults who are 25 and over,
who have been unemployed for at least 6 months within the previous 52
weeks. People who take part in Training for Work schemes are paid a
‘training allowance’ which is equivalent to their benefits plus £10 a
week. The government hopes that at the end of the training scheme, the
employer will offer the trainee a permanent job. If the trainee gets a job
out of the scheme they’ll be paid the rate for the job.
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Tasks
1.
Describe how Programme Centres can help people find work.
2.
How do Apprenticeship programmes work?
3.
What does Training For Work in Scotland allow people to gain?
4.
Who can take part in Training For Work?
New Deal
The New Deal includes a number of schemes for different groups of
people who are out of work and claiming benefit. These schemes are all
designed to help improve the incomes of the poorest fami lies in the UK.
Unemployed people aged 18–24
People aged 18–24 who have been claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance
(JSA) for six months have to participate in the New Deal. Under the
New Deal, young unemployed people first enter a ‘Gateway’ for one to
four months. During the ‘Gateway’ period, help and support in finding
work is provided normally including a two-week course called
‘Gateway to Work’. If the young person does not manage to find a job
at the end of this period, to continue receiving benefits, they must take
one of the following four options:
 Employment with a New Deal employer who receives money from
the government towards the cost of the new employee ’s wages for six
months. If this option is chosen, training and a wage will be provided
by the employer, who may decide to keep employing the person after
the six month period.
 Enter full-time education or training for up to one year. An
allowance will be paid if this option is chosen, equal to Job Seeker ’s
Allowance (JSA).
 Work with the ‘environment task force’ to improve the environment,
or other voluntary work. If this option is chosen, either a wage or
allowance equivalent to JSA is paid and training is provided.
 Self-employment is the fourth option. The government will provide
financial help as well as advice, for any unemployed person wishing
to start up their own business.
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All these options are designed to provide skills, training and experience
or qualifications, which will help unemployed people living on low
incomes, find paid work to increase their income.
Refusal to take part in the Gateway to Work scheme or to choose one of
the above options will result in loss of benefits.
Tasks
1.
What is the ‘Gateway Period’?
2.
What options are available at the end of this period?
3.
What happens if someone refuses to take one of these options?
4.
What are these options designed to provide for unemployed
people?
Unemployed people aged 25–50
People aged 25–50 who have been unemployed for 18 months or more
have to take part in the New Deal for people aged 25 and over (known
as New Deal 25 plus). The job centre provides extra help to improve
their chances of getting a job, including work experience, occupational
training and help with workplace skills.
Unemployed people over 50 can choose whether or not to take part in
New Deal activities. They will not lose benefits if they choose not to
take part in the New Deal 25 plus.
Tasks
1.
What help is given to unemployed people over 25?
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Lone parents
Lone parents who have children at school and are claiming income
support can be given help and advice at the job centre to find work,
training and childcare.
Tasks
1.
Can lone parents get help with finding work as part of the New
Deal?
Disabled people
Unemployed disabled people are given help by the government to find
work and stay in employment. It is a voluntary programme and benefit
is not affected if a disabled unemployed person decides not to take part.
Tasks
1.
How does the New Deal help unemployed disabled people?
Unemployed people over 50
People over 50 years old may have difficulty finding a suitable job, as
the skills they have may be out-of-date, or they may lack skills required
for modern jobs, such as computing skills. Employers may be less
willing to employ older unemployed people as they may be absent from
work due to illness, and will work fewer years with an employer than a
younger worker.
If training new employees costs employers money, a younger worker
who will work for more years than an older worker is more likely to be
taken on. The New Deal for people over 50 (New Deal 50 plus)
provides extra financial help through Working Tax Credit. Training
grants are also available for work related training courses to help older
unemployed people find a job.
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Tasks
1.
Why might people over 50 have difficulty finding work?
2.
What help is given to unemployed people over 50 through the New
Deal?
Education
The Department for Education and Skills was established with the
purpose of creating opportunity, releasing potential and achie ving
excellence for all children, regardless of family background.
Young people from poorer families are less likely to stay on at school
to gain the better qualifications required for better paid jobs. Children
from lower income families may feel they have to leave school and find
work to help contribute to the family income.
The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) provides financial
support to young people from low income families who undertake a full
time course at school or college. This means children from poorer
backgrounds will be more likely to stay on at school, gain better
qualifications, get better paid jobs and live on higher incomes.
Tasks
1.
What does the Department for Education and Skills hope to
achieve?
2,
Why might children from poorer families not stay on at school to
gain better qualifications?
3.
What is the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)?
4.
How will the EMA help children from lower income families?
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Welfare to work policies
Welfare to work policies (including the New Deal) were introduced by
the Labour government to help people move from welfare (benefits)
into work. To date, over 1 million people have found work through it.
Over 20 million people, including 10 million children, are benefiting
from new tax credits – the Child Tax Credit and the Working Tax
Credit – which give lower income families extra income.
Labour’s strategy is centred around:
 helping people move from welfare to work through the New Deal
 easing the transition into work by ensuring people are financially
secure when moving from welfare to work
 making work pay, through reform of the tax and benefit system and
the National Minimum Wage
 securing progression in work, through lifelong learning.
A range of policies were also introduced to protect p eople from
discrimination on the grounds of disability, to help more disabled
people to find and stay in work and to support those whose disabilities
mean they are unable to work.
New Deal has helped some of the poorest families in the UK. More lone
parents are in employment and more disabled people are in employment
than ever before. Working Tax Credit provides extra help for all lower
paid workers (including any low-paid disabled workers) who can ‘topup’ their wages through paying less tax.
The government has introduced, through the Ethnic Minority Task
Force, new approaches to improve employment amongst ethnic minority
groups, including the ethnic minority Outreach service and tackling
discrimination through the Commission for Racial Equality.
Working Neighbourhoods, a programme of intensive support in 12
neighbourhoods with very high concentrations of low income or
unemployed families, uses additional resources to help overcome
barriers to employment.
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Tasks
1.
What does ‘Welfare to Work’ mean?
2.
What evidence is given in the passage to show that the New Deal
has helped some of the poorest families in the UK?
3.
What is the Ethnic Minority Task Force?
4.
Where do ‘Working Neighbourhoods’ programmes operate?
5.
What do these programmes do for people living in areas of high
unemployment?
The National Minimum Wage
Government strategies aimed at providing low income working families
with more money include the national minimum wage (NMW).
Increases in the NMW makes sure that there is an increasing minimum
hourly rate of pay that someone working in a full-time job should be
paid. This helps the working families who are earning the lowest wages.
Tasks
1.
How do increases in the national minimum wage help lower
income families?
The Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament (MSPs in the Scottish parliament, Holyrood,
Edinburgh) has also attempted to tackle poverty and help families living
on low incomes.
Since 1999, the Scottish Parliament has introduced a number of
strategies to tackle poverty and disadvantage in Scotland.
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Social inclusion is about reducing inequalities between the least
advantaged groups and communities and the rest of society by closing
the opportunity gap and ensuring that support reaches those who need it
most.
A child living in poverty in Scotland is more likely to live in poverty as
a young person and adult. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds
can suffer a range of lasting problems, such as poor educational
performance, greater risk of unemployment and poor health in later life.
 The Anti-Poverty Initiatives Team tackles child poverty by
providing affordable childcare for parents who want to work and
increase their income. Lone parents in Scotland who wish to gain
further qualifications are given a childcare grant of £1,075. This
grant will allow low-income lone parents to gain qualifications to
increase their chance of finding a job.
 Sure Start Scotland aims to ensure every child has the best possible
start in life by targeting support for families with very young
children in areas of greatest need.
 Working for Families funding was given to 10 local authorities
across Scotland with the highest concentration of children in
workless households. The fund provides affordable, accessible
childcare which enables parents in deprived areas
 The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) provides advice and
information to people who should be claiming benefits, particularly
lone parents and those living on a low income.
 Hungry for Success (HfS) aims to drive up nutritional standards and
improve the diet of children and their achievement in school by
ensuring that healthy food choices are available and attractively
presented in school canteens. Pupils are made aware of the links
between healthy eating and doing better at school. As a result, all
pupils, including those from lower income families, are now
enjoying healthier choices and larger portions as the quality of food
on offer has improved and there are more healthy choices than ever.
The effects of developing healthy eating habits at school will last a
lifetime.
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Tasks
1.
What is social inclusion?
2.
List the strategies introduced by the Scottish Parliament to tackle
poverty in Scotland.
3.
Use the internet to find out more details about how one of these
strategies helps poorer people in Scotland.
Local Authorities
Local Authorities (councils) also help to tackle poverty by providing
two important benefits for lower income families:
 Housing benefit: If a family needs help to pay the rent for their
home, they can claim housing benefit. This is money which is paid
directly to a private landlord (or to the local authority if the family
lives in council-owned housing). Many poorer families living on
benefits are unable to afford to pay rent, so housing benefit will pay
all of the rent for these families. Some working families may get
housing benefit to pay for part of their rent.
 Council tax benefit: Lower income families will also struggle to pay
their council tax bill. These families can apply to the local authority
for council tax benefit, which will pay up to 100% of a household’s
council tax bill.
Tasks
1.
Describe two benefits available from local authorities which help
lower income families.
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Voluntary sector
Some charity and voluntary groups, including the Child Poverty Action
Group (CPAG) and Shelter, are committed to ending child and family
poverty in the UK. These groups try to raise awareness of the impact of
poverty on families and try to encourage the Scottish and British
governments to introduce policies that help families in poverty. These
groups also advise low income families about claiming benefits and tax
credits. Organisations like GuideStar UK try to help people who have
problems with drugs or alcohol, and who live in poor housing, lack
skills needed to find work, or have other problems.
Tasks
1.
What do charities in the UK try to do to help tackle poverty?
2.
Describe the work of GuideStar UK.
3.
Find out about the work of another voluntary organisation that
tries to tackle poverty, such as Shelter or Child Poverty Action
Group.
Private sector
Private businesses can also help reduce unemployment and poverty by
creating new jobs for unemployed people. If a business sets up in an
area of high unemployment, and takes on unemployed people as new
workers, this will help reduce the number of people living on a low
income in that area.
Public Private Partnerships are at the heart of the government ’s
attempts to revive the UK’s public services. Any collaboration between
public bodies, such as local authorities or central government, and
private companies tends to be referred to a public–private partnership
(PPP).
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Tasks
1.
How can private companies help to reduce unemployment?
2.
What is PPP?
In trying to bring the public and private sector together, the government
hopes that the management skills and of the business community will
create better value for money for taxpayers.
The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) was a creation of the Conservative
government in the early 1990s – but it has been continued by Labour.
Under PFI, private companies for the construction costs of new schools,
prisons or hospitals and then rent the finished project back to the public
sector. This allows the government to get new hospitals, schools and
prisons without raising taxes. New jobs are created in these new
buildings, reducing unemployment and poverty in the UK.
Some people have argued that the long-run cost of paying the private
sector to run these schemes is more than it would cost the public se ctor
to build them itself.
The National Health Service (NHS) has probably seen the most new PFI
activity recently. Six major PFI projects have been completed within
the NHS, with a further 17 hospitals and other facilities under
construction and a further being planned soon.
It has been estimated that private businesses will make an extra £30
billion a year from PFI contracts.
Tasks
1.
What does PFI allow the government to get without raising taxes?
2.
Why have some people criticised PFI?
3.
Do private companies do well from PFI contracts? Give evidence
from the passage to support your answer.
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Additional tasks – tackling poverty
1.
What services does your local Jobcentre Plus office provide? Use
the following webpage to find your local Jobcentre Plus office.
http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Aboutus/Ouroffices/LocalOf
ficeSearch.aspx
Internet task
2.
Use the internet to find out more information about how the
central government, the Scottish Parliament, local councils,
voluntary organisations or the private sector can help poorer
families and reduce poverty.
3.
Write a report using the information you have collected from the
internet. Your report should give details of how the work of your
chosen organisation helps lower-income families and helps to
reduce poverty.
This website can help you begin the first paragraph in your report
about help for poorer families provided by central government is:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/fs/en
4.
If the biggest employer where you live closed down, what would
happen? Draw a spider diagram to show the impact unemployment
would cause on your local area. Think about the impact on:










local shops
local businesses supplying the large employer
catering and security jobs
local schools
money collected from council tax to provide local services.
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RESOURCES
Resources
There is a wealth of useful information freely available to you o n the
world wide web and you will find it a great research tool. To get you
started, here are some sites relevant to the topic of Health and Wealth:
Child Poverty Action Group
http://www.cpag.org.uk
Lothian Anti Poverty Alliance
http://www.lapa.org.uk
Scottish Poverty Information Unit
http://spiu.gcal.ac.uk
Help the Aged Scotland
http://www.helptheaged.org.uk
National Statistics Website
http://www.statistics.gov.uk
Information on New Deal
http://www.newdeal.gov.uk
Scottish Government
http://www.scotland.gov.uk
NHS Scotland Website
http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk
National Health Service
http://www.nhs.uk
Health Education Board for Scotland
http://www.hebs.scot.nhs.uk
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RESOURCES
Action on Smoking and Health
http://www.ashscotland.org.uk
Department of Social Security
http://www.dss.gov.uk
Glasgow Alliance
http://www.glasgowalliance.co.uk
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