Making ends meet below the minimum income standard: families experiences over time

This paper presents some preliminary findings and emerging themes from a second round of interviews in the Bringing up a Family: Making ends meet study conducted by the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP). The purpose of this initial analysis is to bring together some general findings drawing on the longitudinal focus of the study to provide some insights into the ongoing experiences of families living on an income which falls below the Minimum Income Standard (MIS). The paper focusses in particular on how changes are experienced and managed, the extent of choice and constraint, what these mean for people’s incomes and lives and how families continue to cope when living below what in the context of MIS is a minimum acceptable living standard. The findings presented here are based on an initial overview of a second wave of interviews. It is hoped that a third round of interviews will be possible in 2019 allowing additional analysis and reporting in the future

Household costs and foster care

Household costs and foster car

Evaluation of the New Deal for diasbled people: the cost and cost-benefit analyses

The New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP) is the major Government employment programme available to people claiming incapacity benefits. As such, it plays an important role in the Government’s welfare to work strategy. The programme is delivered locally by Job Brokers, which are a mixture of voluntary, public and private sector organisations. Although Job Brokers vary enormously in size and in how they operate, most help clients with their job search, engage in job development, and attempt to increase clients’ confidence in their ability to work. Many also attempt to develop clients’ work-related skills and monitor clients’ progress in jobs after they are placed, sometimes intervening when the client encounters problems on the job. Job Brokers receive a payment from the Department for each client they register, for each client they place in a job, and for each placed client who continues to work for at least six months

A Minimum Income Standard for the UK in 2014

This is the 2014 update of the Minimum Income Standard for the United Kingdom, based on what members of the public think people need for an acceptable minimum standard of living. Budgets for adults without children, both working age and pensioners, which were originally researched in 2008, have for the first time been researched again from scratch. Budgets for families with children have been reviewed. The report shows that a basket of minimum household requirements is similar in 2014 to 2008, but that its cost has risen significantly more than headline inflation, as have the earnings required to afford it

A minimum income standard for rural households

This study extends the MIS UK research to consider what rural households need to afford the same standard of living as their urban counterparts. It examines: what different rural households need to meet the minimum income standard in comparison with urban households; how meeting needs in key areas of expenditure, such as transport and fuel, differs significantly in different types of location; and how much income people in rural areas therefore require in order to afford a minimum socially acceptable standard of living

The role of social support networks in helping low income families through uncertain times

In times of labour market insecurity and retrenchment of state support, low income families rely on friends and relatives as a safety net. This article explores the enhanced role of this ‘third source of welfare’ in light of these developments. It draws on qualitative longitudinal research to demonstrate how families’ situations fluctuate over two years and the importance of social support networks in hard times and periods of crisis. The research illustrates how social support is not necessarily a stable structure that families facing insecurity can fall back on, but rather a variable resource, and fluid over time as those who provide such support experience changing capabilities and needs. A policy challenge is to help reinforce and not undermine the conditions that enable valuable social support to be offered and sustained, while ensuring sufficient reliable state support to avoid families having no choice but to depend on this potentially fragile resource as a safety net.</p

A literature review of the use of random assignment methodology in evaluations of US social policy programmes

The (then) Department of Social Security commissioned CRSP to undertake a brief review of the use of social experiments in evaluations of social security, welfare-to-work, education and training and other relevant social policies. The review focuses on potential difficulties with implementing and operating random assignment and the strategies and options for overcoming them. It was commissioned in the context of the extension for New Deal for Disabled People. Social experiments provide the estimate of the impact of a programme, the difference between what happens and what would have happened in the absence of the programme. They involve the random assignment of individuals to at least one treatment group and a control group. The advantages and disadvantages of social experiments (Section 1.1) and their uses are summarised (Section 1.1.1)

The minimum income standard as a benchmark of a 'participatory social minimum'

The Minimum Income Standard (MIS), a method for constructing minimum household budgets based on public consensus, helps to operationalise Townsend's concept of a 'participatory social minimum'. Since 2008 MIS has tracked changes in the contents and cost of minimum baskets of goods and services. The article reflects on aspects of this research: the living standard that MIS represents, how consensus is reached and its record of providing consistent results over time. Understanding these features allows policy makers, practitioners and analysts to use the results of MIS appropriately, alongside other research, to benchmark the success of measures to promote adequate incomes

Report of the survey of Job Brokers.

This report presents the findings of a postal survey of Job Brokers, who deliver the New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP) at local level. The survey is designed to gather information on Job Brokers and the services they deliver, and to provide a sampling frame of Job Brokers for a study of costs for the cost-benefit analysis element of the wider evaluation of NDDP. Questionnaires were posted to Job Brokers during the Summer 2002. Replies were received from 76 Job Broker establishments; a response rate of 80 per cent. The relatively small sample size does limit the analysis that could be undertaken

New Deal for Disabled People extensions : examining the role and operation of new Job Brokers

The New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP) is the major employment programme available to people claiming incapacity-related benefits, and is an important part of the Government’s welfare to work strategy. NDDP provides a national network of Job Brokers to help people with health conditions and disabilities move into sustained employment. This report presents findings from the third wave of qualitative research conducted in 2005. It forms part of a comprehensive evaluation of the programme and builds upon two previous waves of qualitative research designed to explore the organisation, operation and impacts of the Job Broker service from the perspective of key stakeholders. In particular, this third wave aimed to explore why Job Brokers’ performance can vary. The research involved five case study areas, which were purposively selected to include both a new and an existing Job Broker, a mixture of different regions and both urban and rural areas. Interviews were conducted with Job Broker managers, local Jobcentre Plus managers and staff and Contract Managers