Policy Context

1. The low-pay no-pay cycleand disadvantaged mothersVanesa FuertesProfessor Ron McQuaid Alec RichardEmployment Research Institute Edinburgh Napier University Business School, Edinburgh

2. Policy Context • Series of government policies dealing with poverty and child poverty in particular • Government aim of ending child poverty by 2020 • Mainly by getting more parents into employment • Child poverty statistics • Proportion of children in poverty higher for workless households • Many children in poverty live in households where one or two parents work

3. Research Context • A few qualitative studies on low-income parents • Poverty as a dynamic process – poverty as: • Persistent • Recurrent • Transient • Lack of research on recurrent poverty • This study was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation as part of their Recurrent Poverty Programme • One of the five in the Recurrent Poverty Programme

4. Aims of the research • Reasons for recurrent poverty among disadvantaged parents and ways to escape it. • Special focus on childbearing and childrearing • Cycles of poverty caused by cycles of worklessness. • Movements into and out of paid employment • Barriers and enablers behind those movements

5. Method • Quantitative analysis of Working for Families Fund (WFF) data (12,248 parents) • Informed the qualitative data collection • Interviews with Parents (33) • 31 WFF clients; 32 women; 14 areas in Scotland • Focus groups with professionals (WFF key workers) • 3 focus groups with 27 professionals • Interviews with three professionals in managerial positions • Contrast and complement & solutions to problems

6. Interviews with Parents • Data collection • Two-tier questionnaire • Nature of the data collected • Participants’ recollection of past events • Specific income details only recorded at time of interview • Analysis of the data • Time-line data displays Example

7. Quantitative Findings • Over one third of mothers had entered employment by the end of WFF • Characteristics associated with less likelihood of entering paid employment: • No qualifications; • Long term unemployment; • Having more children; • Having children aged 3 to 4 or children aged 12 or over; • Being under 19 or over 45; • Children with disability / chronic health problem / RoN; • Reported as disabled

8. Qualitative Findings

9. Going into poverty or worse poverty • Inter-related and cumulative factors: • External factors including the labour market situation • Household circumstances; • Individuals’ experiences & characteristics • Specific event/s or ‘critical’ moments where a household moves into poverty or worse poverty: • The birth of a child; • The breakdown of the relationship; • Domestic violence, health, etc.

10. Trying to escape poverty • The majority of our participants felt poor • The majority had held one or more jobs since falling into poverty • A few participants suffered persistent non-working poverty (3) • The majority of parents wanted to work to: • Improve household finances; • Improve their emotional well-being; • Be a role model. • Most parents were looking for part-time work • Childcare and work-life balance considerations Quote Quote Quote

11. Paid employment – route out of poverty? • What effect did securing a job actually have? Figure 1: Relationship between cycles of income and worklessness Source: Joseph Rowntree Foundation (Cycles of poverty, unemployment and low pay)

12. The low-pay no-pay cyclereasons and barriers • Low paid jobs – cost of working • Low qualifications and obstacles to education • The cost and lack of childcare • Types and conditions of jobs available • Debt • Low confidence Quote Quote Quote Quote

13. The low-pay no-pay cyclereasons and barriers • The operation & levels of benefits and tax credits: • The four-week gap • Between benefits’ stoppage when starting work and first pay cheque • Working Tax Credit (WTC) • Top-up payment based on previous year’s income (practitioners) • The lack of an estimate of entitlement • Childcare element of the WTC • Four-week gap – inability to cover upfront fees/deposit • Payment averaged over the year while demand fluctuates • Others: transport; health issues; ‘target or box ticking culture’ Quote

14. Breaking the cycle • A few participants (4) have escaped the cycle for a length of time, the majority by obtaining: • Full-time jobs that paid above the minimum wage • Jobs that solved or limited childcare barriers • Effective support to overcome obstacle • Same number had recently escaped but are at risk due to: • Childcare arrangements • Debt repayment • Struggling with paid employment

15. Conclusions • Make work pay • Increase access to affordable childcare • Encourage employers’ flexibility • To reconcile work and family life • Reduce unintended consequences resulting from the benefits and tax credit systems • Make them more sensitive and responsive to people on low-incomes to aid movements into and increase sustainability of employment

16. Conclusions • Deal with debt issues by: • Reducing debt incidence • Adequate support and repayment schemes to minimise its adverse effects • Reduce barriers to education • To aid movements into better jobs • Have in place adequate support • Holistic support targeted at a range of individuals’ needs

17. Discussion Welfare reform • Flexible New Deal – a shift from ‘welfare to work’ towards ‘sustainable employment’ • Questions • “Carrot and stick”: Is the stick flexible enough? • Structural changes in place?

18. END

19. Reasons in EMPLOYMENT Moved region with husband Family problem Husband ill Seasonal contract Household Husband died Financially, emotionally & confidence building; felt ready to work; youngest ok working in school hrs; support Husband retired on grounds of ill health – became breadwinner Friends support; needed to get out of grieving process Reasons out Stopped work when husband died – grieving process Accepted for training at hospital but moved away with husband job Feeling Health Threatened miscarriage Overcame a developing problem Grief reaction; mood swings; rejection of other’s help; Devastated by husband’s death – rejected help from those close to her Had trust issues re. family problem A lot more confident now – enjoyed working these two months Didn’t settle - moved back to home region Support received Practical & emotional support from X organisation– confidence building / job seeking, offering courses, etc. Rejected or unable to accept outside help: offered counselling, went once but not ready for it Friends very helpful emotionally; Parents emotionally + financially Finances Preferred to work full-time but it did not pay off due to tax issues <> ? Going from a 2 to none Income was horrendous <>; Parents provide financial help Widow’s benefit + husband’s pension – not other benefit at all: very hard on this <> Back Married 200x 2000 200x 200x x Work x work x Work x work x Work x Work 200x UNEMPLOYMENT 200x 200x 200x Moved away 200x 1st Child Moved back to home region 200x 2nd Child 200x 3rd Child + Husband illness 200x Husband died IT course EDUCATION 200x Reasons in Feeling Support received

20. Financial hardship – Falling into poverty “You’ve always got to count up. When I am putting things in my basket I am always counting everything in my head so to have enough and it is horrible having to do that.” (Janet, lone parent with 1 child, unemployed) Back

21. Employment – emotional well being “I think I was happier when I was working because I was getting out and meeting new folk and seeing different faces every day and when I am not working I am just stuck doing the same thing day out day in.” (Amy, lone parent with 2 children, unemployed) Back

22. Employment - role model “ … I think it’s really important that both my children learn what is the right way to do things, that you work. My children think that everybody goes to college when they leave school because they’ve seen me studying on constantly. I want them to have those values that you work for a living and you earn money and you reach your potential, so I think it’s important as a role model to them for them to see that.” (Rachel – lone parent with 2 children, unemployed) Back

23. Barriers – low paid jobs “I felt really stressed out because … that is where my wages were going, on my rent and my council tax and then I didn’t have anything left even for travel. So I was better off out of work than when I was working.” (Emily, lone parent with 2 children, unemployed) Back

24. Barriers-childcare “It is not being able to say to the employer when I can start, what hours I can do, until you have childcare in place … but you can’t get childcare until you are working.” (Jane, lone parent with 4 children, unemployed) Back

25. Barriers-education “Ever since I started college everything has been up and down, like a rollercoaster money-wise. I was better off when I wasn’t at college because everything stayed the same.” (Mary, lone parent with 3 children, education part-time) Back

26. Barriers - debt “Everything just hits you when you start working. They come chasing you, that is the most horrible thing about it, because it puts you off, just makes you want to go back on Benefits and just pay £2 a week. I am going to be honest that is how it feels like, but I am trying to deal with it.” (Lucy, lone parent with 2 children, working full-time) Back

27. Barriers - confidence “Because I’d been out of work for such a long time …. when you are at home with young children, especially on your own, you really quickly lose confidence, you’re not getting any intellectual stimulation, you’re feeling quite insecure about being a new parent and not really convinced that you’re doing it right all the time, it’s completely normal. It doesn’t matter how much of a high flyer you were before, if you find yourself outside that loop, it really quickly goes away.” (Rachel, lone parent with 2 children, unemployed) Back