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Life In Low Income Families In Scotland: Research Report
CHAPTER FOUR: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS: TOWARDS NEW DIRECTIONS IN POLICY AND RESEARCH
SUMMARY
Family life on a low income
4.1 Focus group participants report that life is tough on a low income. Although acknowledging that they have enough on which to survive in a literal sense of having food, light and heat, a sense of 'not having enough' to participate fully in Scottish society pervades the accounts of life from within low income family households. This is not to suggest that people within low income family households are merely passive recipients of their lot. On the contrary, a wide range of strategies are reported to have been deployed to manage resources efficiently, although these strategies are often shown to be stress-inducing and thus at personal cost to well-being. Parents give priority to providing food and fuel and to the needs of their children over their own. Yet amid adversity, and the reported struggle to meet basic needs, the importance of seeking relief or relaxation, often through small measures, is also recognised.
Understanding the experiences of low income families
4.2 The common thread of managing on a low income should not disguise the diversity of people who find themselves in these circumstances. Understanding their experiences necessitates discussion with, and learning from, adults and children encountering low income; many of the key factors at play - both sources of support and constraint - are hidden from view. Being in debt emerges as a key issue and is reported frequently. Dissatisfaction with their neighbourhood is common and criticism is directed to families perceived as anti-social and the misguided actions of social institutions which it is felt enable these people to remain within the community. Focus group participants acknowledge that government has much to do to address low income. There is mixed opinion over the effectiveness of government interventions and those of its agents.
KEY ISSUES FOR RESEARCH
Informal provision of support
4.3 The informal emotional and financial support provided by friends, families and, to a lesser extent, neighbours was reported as being important to those within low income family households. Indeed, social institutions often assume that this is support which should be drawn upon by those in need. An analysis which focuses on both providers and recipients of informal support is required to better understand the reality, potential and limitations of what is reported to be a vital cog in the life experiences of members of low income family households. There is, of course, already much acknowledgement of the importance of informal support for the socially excluded (Kempson 1996, O'Connor and Lewis 1999) and low income communities (Kearns and Forrest 2000). However, there is a need for systematic research which primarily focuses on informal support, as opposed to work such as this report which (merely) acknowledges the significance of informal support when investigating related issues. Equally important is to consider the experiences of the substantial proportions of people experiencing poverty who are without access to informal support (National Consumer Council 2003). Effective use could be made of extensive data from the Scottish Household Survey to provide an overview (e.g. the question which assesses the extent to which people could turn to friends/relatives in this neighbourhood for support). However, such work should be complemented by detailed qualitative in-depth case studies with both providers and recipients of support.
Additional research
4.4 The insights afforded through this research would be enhanced by qualitative work which adopts a biographical approach or a fieldwork-based analysis of everyday family life on a low income (Kempson 1996, O'Connor and Lewis 1999). The group perspectives and overviews of this research cannot begin to tease out the ways in which the issues discussed inter-relate to reduce or intensify the effects of living on a low income. Moreover, ethnographic study - the study of a culture of a group of people, commonly through participant observation - of daily experience would facilitate, for example, understanding of the time-frames within which issues arise and the range of responses which can be drawn on in particular circumstances. Detailed interviews with all family members would be an appropriate basis for such work. Sensitivity to the importance of gender and age would undoubtedly raise issues of interest.
Affluent and poor
4.5 The research has described and reflected upon the experiences and perceptions of people living on a low income. What is less clear is the extent to which some of the issues discussed in this report are shared with relatively more affluent groups, although perhaps with less immediate or harmful consequences. Further research would be helpful in assessing how the depth, breadth, meaning and impact of the issues discussed in this report differ between more and less affluent. For example, to what extent are management strategies such as forward planning, spending carefully and bulk buying (Table 1) any less likely to be deployed by less affluent, as opposed to more affluent households? Thus, the issue of the way in which these are low income issues, and to what effect, requires further exploration. An initial review of Scottish Household Survey data would be an appropriate starting point to identify similarities and differences between more affluent and people experiencing poverty.
Christmas, holidays and social life
4.06 The research has highlighted the importance of Christmas, holidays and small efforts to aid leisure/relaxation from everyday life. Each matters to low income households in very different ways. Christmas is described as an obligatory part of life with children and is an event which places strains on the budgets of low income family households. This heightens the low income household's vulnerability to debt; indeed, for many, accruing debt through Christmas is a fact of life. On the other hand, holidays are often described as unattainable, although highly desirable. Both holidays and Christmas are increasingly understood as key moments in the annual calendar and are ones which seem to exclude low income family households (holidays) or include them at the margins (Christmas). There is scope for more detailed consideration of the wider impact of both events on the lives of those living within low income households and, more generally, to appreciate the significance of having a social life. Although studies have referred to the importance of, or the importance of a lack of, a social life (Kempson 1996, National Consumer Council 2003), there is a need for a systematic appraisal of the impact and wider significance of Christmas, holidays and small efforts to aid leisure/relaxation from everyday life. Given the lack of detail that is collected on these issues in existing large scale national surveys, it would be necessary to commission new survey research to establish an overview. Household or personal spending diaries would be an appropriate means of collecting robust data. However, to appreciate the wider significance of these issues would require complementary qualitative work, such as focus groups or in-depth interviews.
Parental aspirations
4.7 The research has clearly demonstrated the importance to parents within low income family households of putting their children first. Some evidence was gleaned of parents' aspirations for their children, e.g. exercising their right to express a preference over nursery selection and describing participation in education for the benefit of their children. There is scope for more detailed study of parents' hopes and fears for their children's future. This is also important for parents' self-esteem, in that parents express a concern to provide adequately for their child.
KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY
New times, familiar problems and 'welfare and work'
4.8 Traditional barriers to employment remain firmly entrenched in the minds of the majority of those living on a low income. Barriers to employment were reported as including the poverty trap, tax credits, childcare, attitudes toward women and paid employment, all of which governments are tackling through a raft of policy initiatives. For example, the six New Deal programmes of the Department for Work and Pensions have been "created to help unemployed people into work by closing the gap between the skills employers want and the skills people can offer" (DWP 2003); the schemes, such as New Deal for Lone Parents, provide access to Personal Advisers who are trained to provide assistance geared toward their client group. Within Scotland a Scottish Welfare to Work Task Force has been appointed by Scottish Executive Ministers to offer advice to Ministers on welfare to work policy and to encourage employers to employ more people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The majority of low income family householders discuss policy in a manner which demonstrates support for the principles promoted by government. Nevertheless, they strongly express the opinion that, in practice, paid employment does not or will not work for them. Prior to tackling the problem, there is a need to assess the extent to which it is merely a perceived barrier (a belief that employment does not pay) or a real barrier (that the measures being deployed to make employment pay are insufficient). The prospects for welfare to work may hinge on the need to overcome deeply entrenched and negative perceptions of the problems encountered by parents entering the paid labour market.
Childcare
4.9 Significant steps have been taken to improve the availability and quality of childcare for those wanting to move from welfare to work. The Green Paper Meeting the Childcare Challenge: A Childcare Strategy for Scotland (May 1998) sets out the Government's wish to see good quality affordable childcare for children aged 0 to 14 in every neighbourhood in Scotland. This Strategy was adopted by the Scottish Executive, and major sources of funding became available from 1999/2000 onwards to help achieve its aims, including Childcare Strategy funding, New Opportunities Fund programmes and tax credits. Quality is as important as the provision of childcare places. For example, Sure Start Scotland has the broad objective of improving children's social and emotional development and strengthening families and communities (Cunningham Burley et al. 2002) and milestone 4 of the Social Justice Indicators aims to ensure that 'all children will have access to quality care and early learning before entering school' (Scottish Executive 2002). However, the research suggests that local variations prevail with regards to provision and access, e.g. in the rules which determine access to childcare provision within Further Education colleges, and different challenges are faced by those living in rural and urban areas, e.g. many rural participants reported longer travel-to-work times and restricted public transport options which presented challenges in balancing work and family life. Pockets of under-provision also still exist. From this research with low income households across Scotland, it would appear that the national childcare strategy does not yet result in a national framework of opportunity. The research suggests that there is a need to work toward equality of opportunity and provision across Scotland.
Access to formal support
4.10 Participants were mostly drawn from support groups and it was evident that these groups contributed to the quality of life of those low income family household members who were part of that group. Two issues follow from this observation: first, research needs to be undertaken to compare and contrast the experiences and perceptions of the people in this study with those who are most isolated / excluded and who do not engage with community-based support. For the Executive to fully understand low income living, the perspectives of those who choose not to seek group support and the experiences of those who do not have ready access to adequate group support must be engaged. Similar research has been undertaken with specific sub-populations (e.g. Fitzpatrick and Kennedy, 2000 on rough sleepers), those with distinctive life experiences (e.g. O'Connor and Lewis 1999, with those who experience social isolation after a crisis), and areas (e.g. Bramley and Evans' on-going work at service provision in deprived areas). However, there is a need for a more comprehensive review of the most isolated of families with children who are experiencing poverty. Second, it follows that there may be merit in mapping the service support network across social groups and locale-types to ascertain the extent to which acceptable local support is readily available to people within low income family households and to profile the sectors from which such formal support is provided.
Social Fund
4.11 The Social Fund is recognised as an attractive source of credit, particularly relative to the options that tend to be open to those within low income family households. However, there is considerable complaint over the way in which the scheme operates, i.e. with applicants typically offered a proportion of the requested loan. Participants describe how they enter into a game of over-estimating their loan required in order to receive the amount actually needed. The Social Fund has a key role to play in protecting low income family householders against higher interest and higher risk forms of credit; a Fund that reflects the level of credit demand would be welcomed. The research suggests that consideration should be given to providing a higher level of funding through the Social Fund to better reflect need.
Local service providers
4.12 Many people living within low income family households report problems in their dealings with officials from local government and government agencies. Although often working in difficult customer service environments and although training programmes already focus on the need to consider the needs of client groups, there would appear to be a gulf between policy and practice. It appears from this research that more work could be undertaken to improve interactions with client groups.
Collective provision of public services
4.13 The provision of services in those localities in which many low income family households live takes on heightened significance when they are the primary/only means for children and adults to engage in wider learning, development and social activities. However, when calculating the costs to families of participation, it is insufficient to only take account of direct entry costs; supplementary and hidden costs - e.g. uniforms, cafes, equipment - present additional financial burdens which our research suggests may be hindering participation. It would appear that social inclusion through participation may not be realised until the direct, indirect and hidden costs of participation can be met by, or subsidised for, low income family households.
Debt
4.14 Debt is reported to be a significant problem for a number of low income family households. The extent and breadth of debt leads debt to be regarded as an everyday feature of life on a low income. There would be merit in conducting systematic research to ascertain the depth and extent of debt among low income family households and to further elaborate on the impact this has upon low income living.
Access to credit and debt management
4.15 The practices of some credit giving companies are roundly condemned by those participants from low income family households across Scotland with experience of such credit. And yet, these organisations would appear to be providing a service for which there are ready clients. The wider impact of the availability of credit should be explored. The high-pressure sales techniques and the ease with which low income family households can access high-interest sources of credit are causes for concern. There are grounds for reviewing the operations of credit-providing organisations (the stick approach) and for increasing the availability and improving the service of socially progressive forms of credit provision in local communities. Where alternatives to debt - or means to lessen the risk of debt - exist locally, then there can be positive outcomes. Credit Unions were praised highly by members, although uptake was not widespread within these communities and other forms of low cost provision - such as food co-operatives, community banking - were barely mentioned at all. There is scope for further development of these financial support services. This issue is acknowledged in the second report of the Task Force on Tackling Overindebtedness (2003). Survey work undertaken to support the task force did, however, suggest that the problem is relatively less prevalent in Scotland (Kempson 2002); this contrasts the tenor of this research in which debt was perceived to be a significant problem. This may be reflected in the different approaches to the issue: the Task Force review of irresponsible lending focused on those with access to mainstream credit, while this research focused on those who are often denied access to such sources. Thus, there is a need to maintain a focus on the particular experiences of low income households when considering how to tackle indebtedness. The sums of money involved may be smaller, but the interviews suggest that the impact of debt on low income households in Scotland must not be underestimated.
Measuring poverty
4.16 While there is no official definition of a poverty line in Scotland or in the UK, the preferred measure (for the present) is the proportion of children living in households below 60% of the median GB household income. Department for Work and Pensions is currently reviewing best practice in measuring child poverty (Department for Child Poverty 2002, 2003). This measure is often preferred as an after housing costs adjustment to take into account regional variation in the costs of living and the necessity of paying for a house. Arguably, this measure of income paints an unrealistic picture of the funds that are at the disposal of low income family households to meet their weekly needs and wants. Consideration should be given to the merit in accounting for the level of debt which must be serviced to give a more realistic appraisal of financial resources.
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