2015 is the year to make Britain great for children and families
Anne Longfield
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
New Year is meant to be a time of hope and excitement. For those families who have had a tough time making it through the last year, however, there is little cause for celebration.
Almost half of families say they are either just about coping or struggling to get by. They face the prospect of a year ahead struggling to get the vital support they need to overcome hurdles of debt, low income and high housing costs.
Debt is a familiar characteristic of modern family life for too many families as wages stagnate and the cost of essentials remains high. While we read stories in the January papers of debt resulting from over-indulgence at Christmas, the reality is that many families are borrowing simply to cover the basics.
One in 10 families has borrowed to cover the cost of food and others have resorted to borrowing to cover the costs of childcare. With 2.5 million children living with families already stuck in a debt trap and three million more families on the edge of one, we are seeing significant economic problems being stored up for the future - for both families and the country at large. Looking at how we prevent this dangerous, difficult to escape from, cycle should be the first priority of an incoming government this year.
The best route out of the poverty and instability that can lead to debt is work. But work must pay. Some parents are stuck in a revolving door of low-paid jobs and poverty. Measures recently announced only serving to make life harder - tax credits uprated below inflation and both child benefit and the working allowance for Universal Credit frozen. Reversing these changes would help families not only to get by, but to get on in life too.
The shortage of affordable, quality housing is yet another hurdle to overcome. It's a problem that needs more than tinkering around the edges - instead, a major programme of building to create affordable and social housing is required to address what is a key driver of poverty. All children and families need good neighbourhoods and communities in which to grow up and live, and, as we look to the future, we must ensure that new housing is designed with them in mind.
It's not all bad news - for those most in need, the Troubled Families programme has offered welcome support. The approach is a good one - one person able to lead the response to a family, getting to know their needs, earning their trust and supporting them to get back on their feet. We at 4Children would like to see all parties before May committing to an extension of the programme to address problems earlier - getting to vulnerable families before they reach the "troubled" threshold.
For some families, it can take only one life event - bereavement, redundancy, divorce - to plunge them into a downward spiral, tipping them over the edge and into crisis. If we miss the chance to intervene and offer early help, these families can fall into a cruel cycle of intergenerational disadvantage, meaning that as well as missing the opportunity to help families now, we may be storing up problems for us all by condemning future generations to a similar fate. If we can address problems earlier, providing help before they escalate, we can save families from the trauma and society from the extortionate costs of managing the damage after crisis hits.
That's why we have proposed policies ahead of the election, which embed a preventative approach in our public services. From extending the Troubled Families programme earlier to transforming the existing network of Sure Start children's centres into children and family hubs, we think services should respond to the often complex needs of a family in an integrated way, rather than being confined to existing silos.
It is also why we have called for an increase in funded childcare provision and for schools to open their doors for longer - helping parents back to work and supporting them to stay there. And it's why we want more of a focus on children on the edge of care - with better support to build the parenting skills and resilience needed if children are to stay in the family home.
Politicians in all parties are making decisions now against a tough economic context. But rather than diminishing the case for helping to get families back on their feet, a backdrop of limited public spending makes it all the more vital. And as well as being economically sound, taking a proactive approach to supporting families through tough times also makes political sense. The outcome of May's general election may be far from certain, but we do know that the family vote can swing the result. More than half of voters recently polled called for more support for children and families. Politicians ignore such a call at their peril.
In four months' time, the next government has an historic opportunity to embark on a major shift in ambition for children and families - transforming aspirations and outcomes, especially for the most vulnerable families, and enabling them to flourish. It's time we made Britain great for children and families. This coming year offers an opportunity to do just that.
Anne Longfield OBE is chief executive of 4Children