Welfare Rights Bulletin - Issue 272

The journal aims to stimulate debate about the nature, causes and consequences of child poverty in the UK, and potential solutions.

​Inside this issue:​

- Child poverty and policy in the US and the UK
- Hindrance or help? Social security and work
- Discretion, dignity and choice: free school meals

The Welfare Rights Bulletin is CPAG's journal of welfare benefits and tax credits law and practice. It is also an updating service for our Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook.

In this issue:

-NINos: law, policy and legal challenge
-UC and deductions: recent changes
-Revisiting the UC grace period
-Child disability payment in Scotland
-Universal credit for veterans with disabilities

Published in association with Glasgow Caledonian University SPIRU and WiSE Centre, The Poverty Alliance and I-SPHERE, Heriot-Watt University​

Poverty in Scotland 2021: towards a 2030 without poverty.

Scotland has set statutory targets towards ending child poverty by 2030, and the Scottish government has made wider commitments to eradicating poverty and hunger altogether. Poverty in Scotland 2021 provides a comprehensive but accessible state of the nation assessment of how far the country has come in achieving these goals, and what is now needed to make them a reality.

The book draws on the latest data and evidence to give an overview of the scale, nature and extent of poverty, and the impact it has on people and communities. Chapters explore:

How poverty in Scotland is defined and measured
What causes poverty in Scotland, and whether that poverty is falling
How policies and processes are working to tackle poverty
The extent to which the lived experience of poverty is shaping policy

Over a million of Scotland’s citizens, and nearly one in four of its children, were still living in poverty before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic struck. This indispensable book brings together contributions from leading experts, academics and practitioners to set out how various policy tools, from public finance, economic development and social care to social security, employment and transport can now be utilised to ensure the ambition of a Scotland free of poverty is realised.

Poverty in Scotland 2021 is the latest in a series providing an essential resource for politicians, policy makers, teachers, community activists, service providers, academics, students and all those working to end poverty.

This edition of CPAG’s flagship policy publication provides the clearest and most comprehensive picture of poverty in the UK today.

With four million children now living in poverty in the UK, and independent experts forecasting that figure is set to rise, the significant progress made at the turn of the millennium to eliminate child poverty is being reversed.

Based on the latest official figures, Poverty: the facts looks at why UK child poverty rises and falls.

It answers the following questions:

- What do we mean by poverty?
- How do we measure poverty?
- Who is at risk of poverty?
- Who is in poverty?
- How does the UK compare with other countries?
- What can we do about it?

Written by leading academics and policy analysts, Poverty: the facts is essential for anyone wanting to understand the policy and political debates around poverty, and is essential reading for academics, students, social workers, welfare rights workers, financial inclusion teams and the wider policy community.

This book by Rebecca O’Connell, Abigail Knight and Julia Brannen brings the latest research on food poverty together with the voices of children and young people experiencing food poverty first hand.

What are the social and family circumstances that leave children hungry and prevent them eating in socially acceptable ways? What part does school food play in the diets of children whose families are on low incomes?

Illustrated with photographs by young people and researchers, the book sheds light on the various dimensions of food poverty, including hunger, poor diets and social participation as well as families who are eating well despite having a low income. It asks who is responsible for making sure young people eat well and have access to adequate food for health and social participation, and includes recommendations from CPAG.

To reverse the recent increases in child poverty caused by cuts to working-age benefits and tax credits, the next government will need to increase tax revenue, argue the authors of the latest policy book from CPAG. Published to influence the thinking about the best way of doing this, the contributors explore our current tax system with its various direct and indirect taxes, and propose a strategy for reform.

This book brings together leading voices from academia and practice to discuss whether the government's new life chances agenda is meaningful. What does life chances mean? What can be done to improve them and how are children's life chances affected by poverty and deprivation? This year the government will publish its first ever life chances strategy. In this book, experts from research, policy and practice discuss the implications of the shift to 'life chances' as a frame for social policy, set out measures to improve children's life chances from perspectives including health, housing, families, early years, education and social mobility, and explain why we can't aspire to improving life chances unless we take action to reduce poverty.

This service includes the full text of the Disability Rights Handbook 2021/22, searchable and linked internally so you can skip to the next piece of relevant information with one mouseclick.

It is updated every two months from June 2021 to February 2022 - an invaluable service that means your online Handbook will keep pace with social security reform and changes to the law.

The Welfare Rights Bulletin is CPAG's journal of welfare benefits and tax credits law and practice. It is also an updating service for our Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook.

In this issue:

-Coronavirus and benefits from April
-Work capability assessments, delays and coronavirus
-Universally ineffective?
-The new transitional SDP element

Written for claimants and their advisors, CPAG’s annually updated Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook is the definitive guide to the UK’s social security system.

This new edition provides comprehensive information on your entitlement to benefits in 2021/22. It includes the latest on universal credit and legacy benefits as well as the impacts of the ending of the UK’s transition period from the EU (31/12/2020). The latest rules, including on migrating to universal credit, work-related responsibilities and changes to the right to reside in the UK are covered in detail. The edition also covers the continuing expansion of the Scottish social security system, with further details provided on young carer grants, child payments and child disability payments.

Tactical guidance and examples are included throughout to help you navigate an increasingly complex social security system. The Handbook is also fully indexed and cross-referenced to law, regulations and official guidance as well as to court, tribunal and judicial decisions.