50 per cent of UK households believe they will struggle to meet their financial commitments over the next three months. In the first three weeks after the UK government introduced the ‘lockdown’, an estimated 7 million households had lost their earned income...
Poverty as measured by material deprivation through lack of economic resources remains absolutely central to understanding the causation of most aspects of social exclusion and a range of social outcomes, concludes the 2nd of the two-volume PSE-UK study.
Government policies have meant misery for millions in fuel poverty, and Conservatives manifesto commitments promise no relief, argues Ruth London. A different direction is needed, prioritising renewables, insulation, and public control of energy and prices.
OUT NOW - the two-volume study based on the findings of the Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK research. Volume 1 examines the extent of poverty and volume 2 the different dimensions of disadvantage. Published by Policy Press on November 29, 2017.
Read the Journal papers coming from the PSE research. The latest paper examines how analyses of the micro paradata ‘by-products’ from the 1967/1968 Poverty in the United Kingdom (PinUK) and 2012 Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK (PSE) surveys highlight changes in the conditions of survey production over this 45 year period in the latest output from the PSE research.
The Hard Times reports provide evidence gathered by communities themselves on the impact of austerity and cuts on families and young people across Northern Ireland. Watch the accompanying films on home repossession, struggles with debt and youth hopes and dreams on the community webpages.
One in eleven people in Britain fear they won't be able to afford their monthly rent or mortgage payments in 2014, according to new research from the campaign group Shelter. The research was based on a YouGov survey of over 4,000 adults.
The findings show household budgets across the country at breaking point, Shelter says. Families are the worst affected, with over 70 per cent of rent or mortgage payers with children struggling or falling behind with their payments, compared with 63 per cent of the general population.
The survey also reveals a worrying trend of people unable to face up to their financial difficulties, with nearly one in five saying they had not opened post if they thought it was a bill or late payment reminder.
Soaring energy bills are forcing families to spend more than ever on heating and maintaining their homes, according to official figures on the growing squeeze on household budgets – with those on lower incomes now spending 25 per cent of their income on housing.
The figures emerge from the latest annual Office for National Statistics report on household spending.
The coalition's housing policies – including the controversial 'bedroom tax' – have been publicly criticised by a United Nations Special Rapporteur. Raquel Rolnik was giving her preliminary conclusions at the end of a two-week visit that included meetings with a wide range of interested parties, including coalition ministers and people directly affected by government policies.
Even a very modest rented home is beyond the reach of low-income households in 33 per cent of all local authority areas, says a new report from the Resolution Foundation think tank. It described the results of its research as 'alarming'.
The report uses independent housing market data to examine the situation of a couple with one child, and an annual net income of £22,000, to see where they can afford to live if they spend no more than 35 per cent of their net income on housing – a widely accepted definition of affordability.