Poverty and parenting in the UK: patterns and pathways between economic hardship and mothers' parenting practices

This research examines to what extent there are differences in parenting across income groups, and whether these differences are unique to low-income parents. When comparisons are made across all income groups, rather than focusing on parents in poverty, it is revealed that first, there are some positive differences in the parenting of low-income compared to middle-income mothers, and second, where there are negative differences these are not unique to low-income mothers, but part of a broader income-parenting pattern. Mothers’ mental health is an important mechanism in explaining the relationship between economic hardship and parenting, though it is more important for some parenting behaviours than others. These relationships are malleable: movements into/out of hardship are associated with worse/better maternal mental health

Ethnic inequalities on the eve of the pandemic

This research, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, evaluated the impact of changes in social policies on inequalities since 2015 up until the eve of the pandemic. This briefing focuses on the findings that relate to ethnic inequalities across different policy areas

Are poor parents poor parents? The relationship between poverty and parenting among mothers in the UK

Low-income parents have long been demonised in both political discourses and mainstream media, portrayed as lacking in parenting skills not just financial resources. Using the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) this article examines to what extent there are differences in the parenting of low-income mothers by examining parenting behaviours of low-, middle- and high-income mothers. The findings show that where there are negative differences in the parenting of low-income mothers these are often part of a broader income gradient that extends all the way up the distribution, rather than unique to low-income mothers. Furthermore, there are some positive differences in parenting among low-income mothers compared to middle-income mothers. These findings have important implications: low-income parents are not an unusual or deviant group parenting differently to everyone else. The findings suggest more attention ought to be given to parenting differences higher up the income distribution. In focusing on low-income parents only, existing evidence exaggerates differences and wrongly identifies low-income parents as problematic

How divided is the attitudinal context for policymaking? Changes in public attitudes to the welfare state, inequality and immigration over two decades in Britain

If public attitudes towards the welfare state, inequality and immigration are becoming increasingly polarized, as recent political events might suggest, the space for progressive social policies is more constrained. Using data from the British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA) spanning 23years, we analyse trends in these attitudes, examining whether there has been divergence between those who have been more and less exposed to disadvantage through changes in the economy and the welfare state across more than two decades. Taken in this longer term context, and examining characteristics not previously considered in relation to public attitudes such as lone parenthood and disability, we find little evidence of polarization in attitudes to welfare, inequality and immigration and even some evidence of attitudinal gaps narrowing. We conclude that given this lack of division, there may be greater room for more pro-welfare and progressive policies than the prevalent narrative of polarization suggests

Does money in adulthood affect adult outcomes?

This report examines the evidence on whether money in adulthood has a causal impact on wider adult outcomes. Individuals with less income tend to do worse on a range of indicators than those with more, including measures of physical health and subjective well-being. Would more money in itself make a difference? Or are these differences driven by other, associated factors (education, more satisfying work), or by long-term factors too well-established to shift with a boost to income during adulthood

The Conservative governments’ record on employment: policies, spending and outcomes, May 2015 to pre-COVID 2020

In this paper we evaluate the distributional impact of employment policy in the period since the Conservative Government took office in 2015 up until the eve of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020. We do this by following the common framework adopted by research papers in this series for the Social Policies and Distributional Outcomes in a Divided Britain research programme. Employment plays a central role is most people’s lives. It provides an income to fund current consumption, to support dependent children and savings for retirement. Employment can also play a crucial role in determining well-being but employment is not evenly distributed either in terms of quantity or quality; with some people facing much higher risks of unemployment and low pay while others enjoy low risks of unemployment and high paid jobs with favourable terms and conditions of employment. Although a wide range of policy areas influence employment outcomes (for example, education and skills, childcare, social security, health, industrial policy and wider management of the economy), employment policy can help to reduce employment inequalities through active labour market programmes, setting minimum wage rates and through regulation of working conditions and workers’ rights. We document record levels of employment over this period and a marked reduction in earnings inequalities following the introduction of the National Living Wage. However, significant challenges remain including increasing in-work poverty, persistent pay gaps in relation to gender, disability and ethnicity, a decade of lost pay growth, which particularly affected young people, and continued challenges to protect precarious workers

If we want to improve social mobility, we have to address child poverty

Kerris Cooper and Kitty Stewart discuss evidence from their new report on the effect of financial resources on children's development. They argue that the high quality evidence from the UK and other OECD and EU countries demonstrates that money in itself matters for children's development, above and beyond associated factors such as worklessness

Who is at risk of experiencing violence and has it changed overtime?

Published crime statistics show that following a long-term decline in violent crime there has been a flattening out in recent years and certain types of violent crime have increased. This research note examines who is most at risk of violence and how this has changed over time, focusing on the characteristics of sex, age, disability and ethnicity. Findings show that while violence significantly declined overall between 2004/05 and 2018/19, it did not decrease across all groups in the population

Does Money Affect Children’s Outcomes? An update

This report provides an update to Does Money Affect Children’s Outcomes?: A Systematic Review, published in October 2013. Using systematic search approaches, we review the literature examining the relationship between household financial resources and children’s outcomes, focusing on OECD countries and on the last fifty years. We include studies looking at children’s health, cognitive development and social, emotional and behavioural development, as well as studies on relevant intermediate outcomes, including the home environment and maternal mental health and health behaviours. Studies are only included if they use methods that allow us to reach conclusions about causal relationships: this includes randomised controlled experiments, quasi-experimental situations, and longitudinal studies tracking both financial resources and outcomes over time. The update adds 27 new studies to the 34 in the original review, and slightly expands the country coverage, although the evidence base remains heavily US-focused. The studies provide strong evidence that income has causal effects on a wide range of children’s outcomes, especially in households on low incomes to begin with. We conclude that reducing income poverty can be expected to have a significant impact on children’s environment and on their development

The National Living Wage and falling earnings inequality

The more generous National Living Wage replaced the National Minimum Wage for employees aged 25 and over in April 2016. In April 2020 it is due to increase to 60% of the average wage. In this policy brief we assess the impact of the National Living Wage in earnings inequality. We find that inequality in wages and weekly earnings have fallen further and faster than at least 1999 and most likely since the late 1970s