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Social Justice ...a Scotland where everyone matters - Annual Report 2002

Every Family Matters

Our Vision

A Scotland, in which every family is able to support itself - with work for those who can and security for those who can not.

The challenges facing families

• Low income, in particular for people who are out of work.
• Certain groups in society, such as lone parents, disabled people and people from minority ethnic groups, face barriers to employment and are less likely to be in employment.
• People with poor literacy and numeracy skills may be prevented from either taking up employment or progressing up the jobs ladder.
• Being stuck in low paid employment through being unable to improve skills and qualifications for the modern jobs market.
• Continuing with education after school age is becoming more common for people from disadvantaged groups and areas, but they are still under represented.
• Unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as smoking, alcohol problems and lack of exercise, affect people adversely who may already suffer from disadvantage.
• Some people, such as those with learning disabilities, require help and support to enable them to live independently.

Our long-term targets are to:

• Achieve full employment in Scotland in the modern sense of opportunity for all.
• Ensure that everyone has the opportunity to undertake some form of learning to widen their knowledge and skills.

Every Family Matters - case study

Kareena Hammond and
son Matty

Just four years ago, 17-year-old Kareena Hammond felt that her dream of becoming a primary school teacher was about to drift out of her reach. With two Highers in English and Geography and a baby boy, Kareena wanted, but found it impossible to continue with her studies. She tried to attend college when Matty was just four months old, but it proved impractical to juggle childcare with her studies and she had to give up.

Life seemed to spin out of control as Kareena found herself living 17 floors up in multi-storey block in Glasgow's Cardonald district. Carrying Matty up 17 flights of stairs when the lift packed in was bad enough, but the turning point in Kareena's life arrived the day she walked out of the lift to find blood splattered across the landing.

"I couldn't face bringing my son up there any more. I didn't want him to be brought up in a violent environment. I wanted better for him and I wanted better for myself. How could I expect my son to work hard at school, go to university and get a good job if I was going to be on benefits for the rest of my life?" said Kareena. Despite the difficulties, Kareena was determined to return to college to get the qualifications she needed to achieve her goal.

"By this time Matty was a year old and I was living with my aunt who, along with mum, could help with child care while I studied. I went back to Cardonald College and gained an HNC in social sciences. The following year I gained my Highers in psychology, philosophy and maths. At last, I had achieved the qualifications I needed to be accepted into university".

And in October 2001, Kareena embarked on a four-year primary school teacher-training course at Strathclyde University. While at Cardonald College, Kareena received benefits and was able to support herself. She wasn't prepared for the shock when she learned that the university did not provide childcare support, but she did receive a letter telling her about a new grant, funded by the Scottish Executive and administered by the Student Awards Agency which aims to help lone parents access full-time higher education.

"I was relieved when I heard about this grant," said Kareena. "To be honest, I would have serious problems if I didn't receive the grant. I need a nursery place five days a week because I attend university Monday to Friday. I get ?1,000 each year towards the cost of childcare and it means I can attend University knowing that Matty is being properly looked after."

To help her make ends meet, Kareena works 16 hours a week in Asda and somehow manages to find the time and energy to study in the evenings. Now 21, Kareena has moved into her mum's new house where there is plenty of space for her and Matty and is enjoying her second year at university. The best bit about the course says Kareena is doing work placements in local schools.

"It's great when you are working with a child and you see them do something they couldn't do before. I recently spent a bit of time with a wee boy who was having problems at home and it was great to see his attitude to his work improve."

While looking forward to the end of her course and to finally achieving her goal of becoming a teacher, Kareena doesn't plan to stop there. Teaching is a job for life and I can't wait to earn my own money and buy my own house says Kareena. "But after a few years teaching, I might do a postgraduate in educational psychology and who knows where that will take me.

"I know I made a mistake when I was younger although I have a got a lovely wee boy to show for it. Everyone makes mistakes and it's so important, especially for young people, that they are given every opportunity to move on and make something of themselves. After all, if young people get the chance to reach their potential then it goes without saying that society will get something back."

What we are doing

Jobs

• We are supporting the UK Government's New Deal initiative. The New Deal for long-term unemployed people has helped 12,300 people into jobs in Scotland. The number of over 25s who have been unemployed for over 18 months or more in Scotland is now only a quarter of the 1997 level.
• The New Deal for Lone Parents has helped 18,100 lone parents into work.
• The New Deal for 50 plus has helped 9,300 people aged over 50 into work.
• The New Deal for Disabled People programmes is only at a pilot stage but is already helping people into work.
• Jobcentre Plus is reviewing its strategy to assist people from minority ethnic groups to help them achieve equality of outcomes.
• Between 2001-02, the Executive's Training for Work programme helped over 12,000 people access work-related training to get back in to the jobs market.
• Our Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIPs), covering both rural and urban Scotland are continuing to bring key local partners together to tackle exclusion and target regeneration of our most needy communities. Almost a quarter of Social Inclusion Partnerships' funding is spent on projects helping residents with lifelong learning, training and employment.

Education

• We are funding help for 80,000 adults to improve their literacy and numeracy skills.
• We are widening access to higher education to include people from under-represented groups and areas. We are breaking down the barriers, for example, helping lone parents with childcare.
• There are record numbers of student places.
• We have reformed student support, tackling financial barriers to participation.
• In 2000-01, 46% of students enrolled in further education colleges were from areas of above average deprivation, compared to only 35% in 1998-99.
• Of the 60,000 additional enrolments in further education colleges since 1998, over 25% were students from the 20% most deprived areas.
• We are raising aspirations of school pupils and supporting them into continuing their education after school age.

Health

• We are working with HEBS to promote a culture change in relation to anti-smoking and alcohol problems.
• We are providing smoking cessation services.
• We are working to increase take-up of the voluntary charter on Smoking in Public Places.
• The Health Improvement Fund helps NHS Boards and national health promotion agencies with local projects. These include smoking cessation, breakfast clubs, fresh fruit provision for infants, fruit and salad bars in schools and distribution of free toothpaste and toothbrushes for toddlers in deprived communities.
• We are working to promote healthy eating for all people, from early years to old age.
• We are working to promote physical activity for all.
• We are closing all the long-stay learning disability hospitals in Scotland by 2005.
• We are providing appropriate support to those people with learning disability who are leaving long-stay hospitals.

What we will do

• Increase childcare support in disadvantaged areas (see Children's section).
• Changes to the tax credit system (see Children's section). The Working Tax credit will replace the Working Families Tax Credit and the Disabled Person's Tax Credit.
• Work towards a step change in life expectancy for Scots, particularly disadvantaged members of the community.
• Increase the number of people in employment undertaking training.
• Through the Modernising Government Fund, improve access to public services and information, making it easier for disadvantaged people to get information and help.

Trend

Improvement: The percentage of unemployed working-age people now stands at 6.8%, 1.7 percentage points below the 1997 baseline figure of 8.5%. Although slightly up on the 2001 figure, the current level is around half the level in the mid-eighties. The trends in unemployment of women and men broadly follow the same pattern, although more men are reported to be looking for work.

The Scottish labour market remains in good health. Employment remains high by historical standards and, whilst recognising that ILO (International Labour Organisation) unemployment has risen, jobs continue to be created in a number of sectors, especially in services.

Chart 13: Percentage of unemployed working age people

Source: Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics

Trend

Slight Increase: The relative proportion of working age adults living in households with low incomes in 2000-01 is slightly higher than the baseline figure for 1996-97. There is a fall of 3 percentage points in the proportion of working age people in households with low incomes in an absolute sense.

We have worked with the Department for Work and Pensions to improve the methodology used to calculate low income statistics, and are now able to report estimates of the number of working age people in low income households. The latest figures reveal that there are around 540,000 working age people living in low-income households (after housing costs), compared to 620,000 in 1996-97. In relative terms, there are around 670,000 working-age people living in low-income households.

Chart 14: Proportion of working age people in households below 60% median GB household income

Source: Households Below Average Income: Department for Work and Pensions

Trend

Improvement: The employment rate for lone parents has increased to 56% from 42% in 1997. The employment rate for people aged 50+ has increased to 64% from the baseline of 59%. The rates for disabled people is broadly constant at round 38%. The data for people from minority ethnic groups continue to fluctuate around the 50% level due to the small sample size.

Chart 15: Percentage of working age people in employment: disadvantaged groups

Source: Labour Force Survey: Office for National Statistics
Notes: The baseline for people with a disability is 1998, and for the other categories 1997.

Trend

Broadly constant: The proportion of accepted applicants from socio-economic groups III, IV and V from Scotland to UK Higher Education Institutions has remained constant over the last five years. (It must be remembered that these figures only relate to full-time undergraduate students and so do not give the full picture.) The proportion of young people taking full-time first degrees at Scottish Higher Education Institutions from social classes III Manual, IV and V is broadly constant.

There has been a slight increase in the proportion of young people from low participation neighbourhoods taking full-time first degrees at Scottish Higher Education Institutions.

Table 16a: Percentage of accepted Scottish domiciled applicants at UK Higher Education Institutions by socio-economic group

Source: UCAS

Table 16b: Participation in higher education: Social classes III Manual, IV and V

Source: Scottish Higher and Further Education Funding Council
Note: "Undergraduate" includes HE study at sub-degree level e.g. DipHE, HND.
Figures are not available for mature and part-time entrants.
Home means "UK" not "Scottish".

Table 16c: Participation in higher education : Low participation neighbourhood

Source: Scottish Higher and Further Education Funding Council
Mature and part-time undergraduate entrants defined as those with no previous HE qualification
Home means "UK" not "Scottish".

Trend

Improvement: The number of people with learning disabilities in long-stay hospitals has fallen steadily from 6,739 in 1980 to 1,221 in 2002. There has been a corresponding increase in the number of people with learning disabilities using residential and day care services.

Table 17: The balance of care

Source: Information and Services Division: National Health Service for Scotland
Community Care Statistics: Scottish Executive Health Department

Trend

Smoking: No new data

Alcohol misuse: No new data

Diet: No new data

Coronary Heart Disease: Improvement

Table 18a: Alcohol Misuse

Source: Scottish Health Survey

Table 18a: Percentage consuming stated food once daily or more

Source: Scottish Health Survey

Table 18b: Mortality rate per 100,000 from coronary heart disease, persons aged 16-64

Source: Scottish Health Survey

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