Download #report shows #Britain on course to become a permanently divided nation @PeoplesWorld t.co/sl4Yi5fTXU The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission published its annual State of the Nation Report. The Report, which is published and laid before the UK Parliament, shows that Britain is on the brink of becoming a permanently divided nation. The Report predicts 2020 is set to mark the end of the first decade since records began without a fall in #AbsolutePoverty. The Report warns that 2020 could mark a watershed between an era in which for decades there have been rising #LivingStandards shared by all and a future era where rising living standards by-pass the #poorest in #society. It warns that the link between effort and reward on which social mobility relies has been broken by changes in the #housing market – with home ownership rates halving among young people in 20 years – and the labour market – with 5 million workers trapped in #LowPay. When combined with cuts in #welfare and #PublicSpending, these changes put Britain on track to become a permanently divided nation unless radical new approaches are taken by the next #government to meet this 2020 challenge. It finds no #PoliticalParty is being honest about the impact of planned spending cuts or has sufficiently ambitious plans to tackle entrenched levels of low pay. It comes to the reluctant conclusion that there is no way 10 Downing Street can meet the statutory target to eradicate #ChildPoverty by 2020. It calls on the next government to supplement the existing targets with new measures to give a more rounded picture of #poverty and to publish a new timescale for achieving them. The report advises the #UKgovernment to commit to the following objectives: * For macro-economic policy, to recouple economic growth with earnings growth. Closing the chasm between low income households and the rest can no longer rely on #TaxCredits to do all the heavy lifting – #employers will have to raise wages. The key recommendation is that the UK should commit to becoming a #LivingWage nation by 2025 at the latest. * For fiscal policy, to ensure future fiscal consolidation minimises the impact on child poverty and social mobility. The #WorkingPoor will need to be better protected. The recommendation is that the Office of Budget Responsibility should publish an assessment of each Budget for its impact on social mobility and child poverty. * For social policy, to ensure that #YoungPeople are not left behind as the labour market moves ahead. Young people are losing out on jobs, wages and housing, so the next government should commit to end long-term #YouthUnemployment by 2020. The key recommendation is that half of all larger workplaces should offer quality apprenticeships. * For housing policy, to ensure it contributes to more social mobility and less child poverty. This generation of young people is far less likely to progress onto the housing ladder than their parents’ generation. The key recommendation is to create new forms of housing tenure through expanded shared ownership schemes and reform of the private rented sector. * For #education policy, to ensure it closes the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their better off peers. Without a new focus, the gap in attainment between the poorest children and their better-off peers will take 20 years to even halve. The key recommendation is that the best #teachers should be paid more to teach in the worst schools to help end #illiteracy and #innumeracy in primary school by 2025 and to halve the attainment gap in secondary school by 2020. * For #universities and employers, to ensure they recruit from a broader range of talent. Universities and professions are poised to expand dramatically and this needs to bring with it a social mobility dividend. The key recommendation is for #UnpaidInternships to be made #illegal and for 5,000 more pupils from a free #SchoolMeals background to be going to university by 2020. Download the report here: t.co/sl4Yi5fTXU
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 13:39:13 +0000
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