This event launched our state of the nation report, UK Poverty 2017. The most up to date picture on poverty in the UK today Keynote address: Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee The research assesses the progress the UK is making in reducing poverty and tackling its underlying drivers. It looks at how a generation are living in poverty in the prime of life, because the routes to building a decent, secure life are increasingly out of reach. The launch also included a panel discussion to explore how British politics responds to the challenges set out in the report. The report, which has been produced in-house by the JRF Analysis Unit for the first time, examines poverty rates in the UK, and looks at how figures have changed over the past two decades. Speakers Include: Lucy Fisher (chair) Senior Political Correspondent The Times Campbell Robb Chief Executive Joseph Rowntree Foundation Helen Barnard Head of Analysis Joseph Rowntree Foundation Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP Chair of the Education Select Committee Nancy Kelley Deputy Chief Executive NatCen Cllr Claire Kober Leader London Borough of Haringey & Chair of London Councils Link to full Keynote Speech - https://www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2017-ladders-opportunity-keynote-speech-robert-halfon-mp Link to Full report - https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/uk-poverty-2017

1. #solveukpoverty
UK poverty 2017
The most up-to-date picture
on poverty in the UK today
Event SlideShare

2. #solveukpoverty
This report shows that under
this Government inequality
appears to be rising and the
poorest are being hit the
hardest…
… this is absolutely key to
the debate raging in the
Conservative party about
the electability of the Tories –
low-income voters remain
unconvinced by any of the
main political parties.
Lucy Fisher (Chair’s opening remarks)
Senior Political Correspondent
The Times
UK poverty 2017

3. #solveukpoverty
Britain’s record of tackling
poverty has reached a real
turning point and is at risk
of unravelling. Following the
first sustained rise in child
and pensioner poverty for
two decades.
Almost 400,000 more
children and 300,000 more
pensioners are now living in
poverty than in 2012/13.
Campbell Robb
Chief Executive
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
(Opening remarks)
UK poverty 2017

4. #solveukpoverty
14 million people are living
in poverty in the UK today.
More than 1 in 5 of the
population struggle to make
ends meet for themselves
and their families.
Record employment is not
leading to lower poverty.
Changes to benefits and tax
credits are reducing incomes
and crippling costs are
squeezing budgets to
breaking point.
Campbell Robb
Chief Executive
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
(Opening remarks)
UK poverty 2017

5. #solveukpoverty
UK poverty 2017
If you are in poverty your
costs are rising higher than
anyone else.
People are stuck in
a standstill generation
because they are living
in poverty in the prime
of their life.
Campbell Robb
Chief Executive
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
(Opening remarks)

6. #solveukpoverty
UK poverty 2017
A comprehensive analysis
of poverty trends and figures
Helen Barnard
Head of Analysis at JRF
@Helen_Barnard
#solveukpoverty
UK poverty 2017

7. #solveukpoverty
UK poverty 2017
Key Findings

8. #solveukpoverty
UK’s proud record in peril
– A third of children lived in poverty
• By 2011/12, this fell to 27%
• Now risen again to 30%
• 380,000 more children in poverty since
2011/12
– 28% of pensioners lived in poverty
• Fell to 13% in 2011/12
• Since risen to 16%
• 300,000 more pensioners in poverty
since 2012/13
Twenty years ago…
UK poverty 2017

9. #solveukpoverty
UK poverty 2017
The rise of in-work poverty
• 8 million working age adults and children in
poverty in working families
• 3.7 million workers live in poverty
• Part-time workers more than twice as likely to
be in poverty than full-time workers: 21% vs 9%

10. #solveukpoverty
Costs rising and support falling
• Just under half (47%) working-age adults
in the poorest fifth of the population spend
more than 1/3 income on housing costs
– 3.2 million people
• Inflation rising, real wages falling, benefits
frozen
• Inflation higher for those on low incomes
than better off in most years since 2003
UK poverty 2017

11. #solveukpoverty
Poverty takes its toll on health, relationships and future prospects
• Nearly a quarter of adults in the poorest fifth of
the population experience depression or anxiety
• Majority of children from disadvantaged
backgrounds don’t get 5 A*-C GCSEs
including Maths and English
• 20% of poorest fifth of households have
‘problem debt’
• 70% of people in work in the poorest fifth
aren’t building up a pension

12. #solveukpoverty
The UK faces a choice…
• Pensioner and child poverty falls showed it is possible to solve poverty
• But rising figures show more action is needed now
– Ensure support keeps up with costs
– Make work pay
– Reduce housing costs
– Improve prospects

13. #solveukpoverty
A child living in one of
England’s poorest areas is
27 times more likely to go to
an inadequate school than a
child living in its richest areas.
RT Hon Robert Halfon MP
Chair of the Education Select Committee
(Keynote speaker)
UK poverty 2017

14. #solveukpoverty
UK poverty 2017
Even when they get similar
GCSEs and live in the same
neighbourhood as non-free
school meals (FSM) pupils, FSM
students are 34% more likely to
drop out of post-16 education.
RT Hon Robert Halfon MP
Chair of the Education Select Committee
(Keynote speaker)

15. #solveukpoverty
Graduates from richer
backgrounds also earn
more than their poorer
counterparts, even when they
have the same degrees from
the same universities.
RT Hon Robert Halfon MP
Chair of the Education Select Committee
(Keynote speaker)
UK poverty 2017

16. #solveukpoverty
UK poverty 2017
How do British
politics respond to
the current picture
of poverty?

17. #solveukpoverty
It’s been very clear that one
of the things really driving
both poverty and the
pressure on state spending is
rising housing costs…
…We need 80,000 new
homes a year and that will get
us back to the point where
everything else we’ve talked
about today has a fighting
chance of success.
Helen Barnard
Head of Analysis
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
UK poverty 2017

18. #solveukpoverty
We should continue to be
very shocked by the level
of unemployment amongst
disabled people.
Nancy Kelley
Deputy Chief Executive
NatCen
UK poverty 2017

19. #solveukpoverty
We need to… unfreeze
benefits and restore some
of the cuts from Universal
Credit because if family
incomes are under pressure
it’s very hard to make
a difference.
Helen Barnard
Head of Analysis
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
UK poverty 2017

20. #solveukpoverty
Wealth inequality is a huge
issue. It changes the way
people feel about their lives,
their future, their children’s
future.
Cllr Claire Kober
Leader
London Borough of Haringey
& Chair of London Councils
UK poverty 2017

21. #solveukpoverty
We have record
employment, that was
supposed to fix everything
but it doesn’t, work doesn’t
pay the way it is supposed
to anymore. We have a skills
and education system that’s
just not delivering for
everyone in this country…
… We can fix these things,
there are solutions, there
are policies.
Campbell Robb
Chief Executive
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
(Closing remarks)
UK poverty 2017

22. Read the report and findings
www.jrf.org.uk/report/uk-poverty-2017
#solveukpoverty
Sign up for our newsletter at www.jrf.org.uk/subscription
UK poverty 2017
End of event