How will we work together to reduce child poverty?
More than one in five children and young people in the UK lives in poverty. We want Nottinghamshire to be a place where children grow up free from deprivation and disadvantage, where birth and social background do not hold people back from achieving their potential. Childhood disadvantage is caused by a range of complex factors, so we need to work together to improve children and young people's life chances. We aim to reduce persistent poverty, prevent future poverty and increase social mobility, especially within the current climate of recession and increasing unemployment.
Why does tackling poverty matter?
Child poverty has costs to individuals, to society, and to the economy. For example:
- children and young people who grow up in poverty lack many of the experiences and opportunities that others take for granted
- poverty in childhood can cause poverty in the future. Poor children and young people are less likely to achieve higher level skills and qualifications, which are critical to enter the workforce and to progress in work, as well as to thrive in other areas of life
- those living in poverty are more likely to have poorer health outcomes. For example, teenage pregnancy which, in itself, creates further poverty for the parent and child
- communities with greater levels of poverty suffer through increased deprivation and inequalities, which reduce social cohesion.
What will we need to do to tackle child poverty?
Whilst poverty in childhood increases the risk of adult poverty, this repeated poverty cycle can be broken. We will work together to achieve the following aspirations:
- more parents in paid work
- financial support that is responsive to families’ situations
- improvements in children and young people's life chances so that poverty in childhood does not translate into poor outcomes in adulthood
- safe, cohesive communities that allow children and young people to thrive.
How will our Children and Young People’s Plan help us to tackle child poverty?
All ten of our improvement priorities will help to reduce child poverty in Nottinghamshire. Five of our improvement priorities will directly contribute to reducing levels of child poverty:
- improving educational attainment (how children and young people achieve at school) will help increase skills, job prospects, job stability and progression
- reducing the numbers of children and young people missing school will increase educational attainment, skills and employability
- increasing the proportion of sixteen to eighteen year olds who are working or learning will increase an individual’s earning capacity
- reducing the amount of crimes committed by young people will reduce the numbers of young people involved in the youth justice system and will improve career prospects for young people
- providing children and young people with more places to go and things to do, will increase the ability for children and young people to join clubs or attend events in safe local spaces. This will result in safer, more cohesive communities, where children and young people can thrive.
Reducing poverty will improve the health of children and young people. They will have the earnings and motivation to improve their own health. They will have increased self-esteem, aspirations and emotional well-being. They will be less likely to take unnecessary risks which might include substance use or unintended teenage pregnancies. Reduced poverty levels will also increase access to healthier food choices and opportunities for physical activity. This in turn may reduce levels of childhood obesity.
Our Children and Young People’s Plan highlights the complex way that outcomes for children and young people are inter-linked. These factors are mainly attributable to the impact of poverty. By achieving our ten improvement priorities, we intend to enable families to overcome poverty so that children and young people can achieve their full potential.
