Household income trajectories, PROGRESAOportunidades, and child well-being at pre-school age in rural Mexico

This study examines the extent to which household income around the time of birth and income trajectory, influenced by the conditional cash transfer programme PROGRESA-Oportunidades, are associated with the physiological, cognitive, motor, and emotional well-being of pre-school children in rural Mexico. Using the ENCASEH/ENCEL, Structural Equation Models are developed to explore the association between household income over the course of the child’s life, taking part in the cash transfer programme, and indicators of well-being at 4–6 years of age. Results indicate that household income around the time of birth is positively associated with child outcomes at 4–6 years of age. This reinforces the evidence that early poverty has a scarring effect on children’s capabilities. Results also show that improving income trajectories were found to be positively associated with better child development, and PROGRESA-Oportunidades had an indirect positive impact on children the 5- and 4-year-old groups by influencing the income trajectories of their households

Comparative analysis of Minimum Income Standards: Ireland and the United Kingdom

Introduction: This paper compares results from research in Ireland and the United Kingdom, both using the principles of the Minimum Income Standard (MIS) method, to establish minimum socially acceptable budgets in each country. This is the first step in a wider exercise comparing results from the MIS method in the UK, Ireland, France, Portugal and Austria, planned during the course of 2014, as results from the last three of these countries become available. The purposes of the comparison are: 1) To identify similarities and differences in Irish and UK formulations of what needs to be included in a minimum acceptable budget. 2) To explore what lies behind differences and in particular what this might tell us about factors that cause minimum income requirements to differ across countries. 3) To establish the potential and any limitations in such cross-country comparisons using the MIS method. In making this first comparison between two countries, we should note that the Irish research has been carried out in parallel to the UK research, explicitly seeking to replicate the main features of its method, but resource constraints have meant that it has not been an identical design. One difference is that rather than having separate groups looking at the needs of each household member in turn, each Irish group looks at the requirements of a whole household. Another difference is that recruitment in Ireland has been drawn from community groups build up over the years by the charity (Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice), rather than directly from the general public as in the UK, although it is important to emphasise that in both cases selection of participants is to designed to recruit people from a range of social backgrounds. These differences do not affect the underlying character of the focus groups or their mission, but mean that the method is not identical, so comparisons need to be read with caution. MIS studies in Portugal, France and Austria, which have directly involved the UK MIS team in an advisory role, have been closer to the UK method in these respects

Compilation of child poverty local indicators, update to December 2015

Compilation of child poverty local indicators, update to December 201

Making ends meet in Birmingham: assessing the impact of the living wage and welfare reform

This report looks at what has been happening in Birmingham during a period of sustained economic uncertainty, exploring how the city has fared in some key areas – employment, housing, child poverty rates, and earnings. In doing this, the report also seeks to pinpoint some of the key challenges facing the city in the next few years (...continues)

How much does the official measure of child poverty under-estimate its extent by failing to take account of childcare costs?

How much does the official measure of child poverty under-estimate its extent by failing to take account of childcare costs

The impact of higher wage floors on labour markets

The impact of higher wage floors on labour market

Student Characteristics, School Characteristics, and Educational Aspirations of Six Asian American Ethnic Groups

The authors looked at differences among 6 Asian American ethnic groups in terms of student-level and school-level characteristics and examined factors related to their educational aspirations. The authors provided implications for counselors to help Asian American students achieve academic success in secondary and higher education

Consuming forces: generational living standards measured through household consumption

This report, which has been prepared by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University and the Resolution Foundation for the Intergenerational Commission, sheds further light on living standards across generations by considering levels and patterns of expenditure for working-age households in detail. It uses surveys of household spending to explore how actual consumption expenditure has changed over time overall, and for different age and income groups

Balance trabajo-familia: Mexico y Nuevo Leon en perspectiva internacional

Este documento busca servir como referencia sobre la situación del Balance Trabajo-Familia en México, en el Estado de Nuevo León y en el Municipio de San Pedro Garza García. Específicamente, la investigación incluye un resumen sobre qué es el Balance Trabajo-Familia, ofrece gráficas comparativas sobre cómo se encuentra México en relación a otros países en este tema y concentra la opinión de algunos expertos sobre la situación de la armonización entre los compromisos laborales y los compromisos familiares a nivel nacional, en Nuevo León y San Pedro Garza García

Households below a Minimum Income Standard: 2009/09 to 2015/16

This is the sixth in a series of reports monitoring the number of people in the UK living below an adequate standard of living. It focuses in particular on three demographic groups – children, working-age adults and pensioners – exploring how they have fared between 2008/09 and 2015/16