Child and Family Poverty Strategy for Halton Steve Nyakatawa/ Debbie Houghton

What is poverty? ‘Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in the activities, and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or are at least encouraged and approved, in the societies in which they belong.’ (Peter Townsend)

Key Statistics from LCR Needs Assessment (March 2013) The proportion of children in poverty is higher in Halton than in the North West of England. Welfare reforms are projected to take £162m annually away from children and families in the Liverpool City Region: this is equivalent to 1% of the City Region’s economy There are increasing numbers of families accessing foodbanks, which suggests that more children are going hungry There are more families living in households who are defined as living in fuel poverty There is a jobs deficit in the City Region of around 90,000 jobs An increasing number of children are living in workless households

Priorities for tackling Child and Family Poverty in Halton Overarching theme Closing the Gap Income gap Employment and Skills gap Health and Nutrition gap

Income Gap

Map showing Deprivation levels from the Income domain of the IMD 2010

Breakdown of annual gross median pay for Halton, NW and England

Income Priorities Addressing debt/ multiple debt Access to affordable credit and loans Improve financial knowledge and understanding Understanding impact of welfare reforms

Employment and Skills Gap

Unemployment rate in Halton, NW and England

JSA rate (August 2013) V IMD 2010 score

No Qualifications (2011 Census) V IMD 2010 score The most deprived wards in Halton also contain the highest levels of unqualified adults

% of all in employment, shown by occupation types, Halton and England

Percentage of year olds who were NEET, by ward

Narrowing the attainment gap between those pupils receiving free school meals and the rest of their peer group (national) Attainment gaps between pupils from low income families and their more affluent peers persist through all stages of education, including entry into Higher Education. By the end of Key Stage 1 (age seven), the odds of a pupil eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) achieving level 2 in reading, writing and maths are one third those of a non-FSM pupil. The gap widens further during secondary education and persists into Higher Education. The odds of an FSM pupil achieving five or more GCSEs at A*-C including English and mathematics are less than one third those of a non-FSM pupil. A pupil from a non-deprived background is more than twice as likely to go on to study at university as their deprived peers.

Employment and Skills Priorities Raise skills levels at all ages Matching skills to LCR economy growth areas: The SuperPort The Visitor Economy The Low Carbon Economy; and The Knowledge Economy Tackling unemployment particularly youth unemployment

Health and Nutrition gap

Health and deprivation Clear links between deprivation and health Impacts of the economic downturn on health* Welfare reforms may widen the gap in health inequalities. Welfare reforms are likely to impact on disabled people including those with mental health problems % of disabled people live in poverty. The recession has meant worse diets, colder homes and less physical mobility for some ** * Source: Winters L, McAteer S and Scott-Samuel A. Assessing the Impact of the Economic Downturn on Health and Wellbeing, Liverpool Public Health Observatory, February 2012 ** Source: Tunstall R, Fenton A. Communities in recession: the impact on deprived neighbourhoods: Joseph Rowntree Foundation, October 2009.

Fuel Poverty (2011) V IMD 2010 score There is a correlation between the IMD deprivation score and fuel poverty

Life Expectancy at birth in Halton

Some data from the 2013 CHIMAT child health profile Breastfeeding rates have been very slow to change. Some improvements made. There have been improvements in admissions due to alcohol for under 18s Mental health indicators remain poor but have improved since 2012 profile data.

Hungry Children Government figures, last updated for 2010–11, show that around 13 million people are in poverty in the UK. According to the Food Ethics Council, at least four million of them suffer from food poverty Increasing use of food banks nationally - In food banks fed 128,687 people nationwide, and there are now over 250 food banks across the country. There are currently 10 food banks within the Liverpool City Region Nearly three quarters (72%) of teachers surveyed have experienced pupils coming into school with no lunch and no means to pay for one * Two thirds (66%) of the teachers surveyed stated that staff provide pupils with food or money if they come into school hungry. * As is to be expected, instances of children going hungry in schools are more likely to occur in areas of higher deprivation which suggests that these issues will be of significant concern for children in the Liverpool City Region. * Some of the increase in the number of people using food banks is caused by unemployment, increasing levels of underemployment, low and falling income, and rising food and fuel prices. More alarmingly, up to half of all people turning to food banks are doing so as a direct result of having benefit payments delayed, reduced, or withdrawn altogether. * Source: The Children’s Society, Food for Thought: A survey on teachers' views on school meals. Dec 2012

Health Priorities? Life expectancy at birth Infant mortality Child mortality Excess weight (year 6 and reception) Low birth weight Teenage mothers Breastfeeding initiation and at 6-8 weeks Smoking in pregnancy

Closing the Gap in Halton In Halton 87% achieved 5 A*-C’s, with 62% achieving 5 A*-C’s including English and Maths. ( 2013) NEET in Halton is lower than it has been for 4 years, 8.8% of young people academic age are Not Engaged in Education and just over 300 young people are NEET Infant mortality has fluctuated in Halton between 2001/03 and 09/11, but overall has decreased so that it was not significantly different to England in 09/11. At its widest, the gap between Halton and England was 2.2 deaths per 1,000 live births, but it is now at its lowest at 0.4. In 10/11 Halton had a significantly higher percentage of teenage mothers than England. However this has reduced in 11/12 and is now very similar to the England average.

Key Questions Are these the right priorities? Partner experiences of poverty in Halton Partnership action that will make a difference?