UNICEF report: Canada ranks 17th of 29 for well-being of children, By Laurie Monsebraaten, April 10, 2013, Toronto Star: “If you think Canada is one of the best places to raise a child, think again. The latest report on the well-being of children in rich countries ranks Canada 17th out of 29, a score that hasn’t budged in almost a decade, according to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The country scored ‘below average’ grades for child poverty and obesity and children’s life satisfaction, says the report to be released Wednesday. The Netherlands ranked first overall, followed by Norway and Iceland. Romania was last…”
British children facing bleaker future than rest of Europe, warns Unicef, By Josie Ensor, April 10, 2013, The Telegraph: “A report by the UN children’s fund has found that they are worse off overall than in many other industrialised countries, including less wealthy nations such as Slovenia and the Czech Republic. The charity ranked the UK 16th out of 29 developed countries — three places higher than in its last report in 2007. While its overall rating for ‘child well-being’ has gone up, Britain now has the lowest number of young people in further education and one of the highest numbers of under-age drinkers and teenage pregnancies…”
Benefits changes: Warnings as crisis loans scrapped, By Alex Campbell, March 29, 2013, BBC News: “A national scheme to aid vulnerable people in financial trouble is ending just as demand for such help is expected to surge, campaigners warn. Community care grants and crisis loans paid through job centres, as part of the social fund, will end on Monday. Instead, councils in England and the Scottish and Welsh governments are being given funding to provide alternatives. Critics warn demand will rise as the government’s welfare changes kick in. And, they fear, the changes means help for tens of thousands of people will be a “postcode lottery”, meaning the level of aid they get will be dependent on where they live…”
Food vouchers to provide emergency help but prevent spending on alcohol, By Patrick Butler, March 26, 2013, The Guardian: “‘Food stamps’ arrive in Britain next month, when tens of thousands of vulnerable people will be issued with food vouchers in lieu of money to tide them over short-term financial crises. Rather than, as now, offering a cash loan, most councils will from April offer new applicants who qualify for emergency assistance a one-off voucher redeemable for goods such as food and nappies. Many of the 150 local authorities in England running welfare schemes have confirmed that they will issue the vouchers in the form of payment cards, which will be blocked or monitored to prevent the holder using them for alcohol, cigarettes or gambling. Several plan to issue charity food parcels to people applying for crisis help, and are preparing to give cash grants to food banks to enable them to take on full-time staff and increase opening hours. Each authority has drawn up eligibility rules, setting out who will qualify for crisis help and the conditions under which it will be given. One plans to make emergency help conditional on good behaviour…”
Increasing numbers of working people live in poverty, report finds, By Randeep Ramesh, November 25, 2012, The Guardian: “Increasing numbers of people in work are finding themselves in poverty, according to a report published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The report highlights the growing incidence of well-educated people on the breadline because of a failure to find a job. The report charts the changes in recent decades in levels of poverty in Britain – and seeks to explain why, despite higher levels of employment and a more qualified workforce, there has not been more success in combating poverty. The Monitoring Poverty report calls for the government to ‘give up the belief that welfare reform’ is the solution and focus instead on the phenomenon of in-work poverty…”
The working poor: staggering 6m facing insecurity have jobs, November 26, 2012, London Evening Standard: “Millions of workers are facing insecurity, moving in and out of jobs, and poverty, according to a new report. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said over six million people classed as living in poverty, were in households where people worked. Excluding pensioners, in-work poverty now outstrips workless poverty, while 1.4 million people were now working part-time when they wanted a full-time job, an increase of 500,000 since 2009, said the report…”
