Social policy

The Food Foundation has just released the results of a YouGov survey on the impact of Covid-19 on food access. (See here ) They found that;

 “More than 1.5 million adults in Britain say they cannot obtain enough food, 53% of NHS workers are worried about getting food, and half of parents with children eligible for Free School Meals have not received any substitute meals to keep their children fed, despite government assurances that they would provide food vouchers or parcels. This means that 830,000 children could be going without daily sustenance on which they usually rely.”

The idea that if poverty is relative it will always be with us is a common misconception, argues John Veit-Wilson. 'Relative poverty' can be abolished if no one has fewer resources than needed to achieve that society’s minimum standards.

The government has published a framework for implementing its social justice strategy. It emphasises that the indicators set out in the framework are not a set of 'targets', but are instead designed to highlight priorities and identify where progress is (or is not) being made.

The framework is divided into five areas:

For each of these themes, the government says it will concentrate on 'one or two' indicators of progress. The first progress report is promised for March 2013.

The fight against inequality must become a much higher political priority, according to a report published by a new think tank, the Centre for Labour and Social Studies. It highlights evidence showing that most social problems are worse in more unequal societies, and that inequality lies at their root. It says inequality has also played a significant role in the global economic crisis.

The report summarises a wide range of research on the effects of inequality, drawing in particular on the books The Spirit Level: Why Equality Is Better for Everyone (by Professors Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett) and The Cost of Inequality: Three Decades of the Super-rich and the Economy (by Stewart Lansley).