Inventing our future Collective action for a sustainable economy

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Chapter 2 – An overview of social exclusion
• It is estimated that one million people in the region cannot afford essential household items (Monitoring
Poverty & Social Exclusion, Rahman et al, York, Joseph Rowntree Foundation – JRF, 2000).
• It is estimated there are 118,081 lone-parent households in the region (Census 2001).
• The number of people claiming Incapacity Benefit in the region, as of June 2007, was 176,778
(Jobcentre Plus, Office of the Director).
• On average, benefits represent 35% of the income of lone-parent households, compared to 6% for
two-parent families and 5% for the population as a whole (Family Resources Survey, DWP, 2006).
• Unemployment rates for some minority ethnic communities and people with disabilities are over twice
the regional average rate.
• Refugees face many challenges such as language, recognition of qualifications and access to training,
which in turn can impact on employment opportunities.
• There are pockets of poverty throughout the region, but there is a concentration of low-income wards
in the coastal areas, the north of the region and some urban areas.
• Research shows that benefit take-up is lower in rural areas, among home-owners and for certain types
of benefit, particularly Minimum Income Guarantee/Pension Credit and Working Families Tax Credit
(Poverty & Social Inclusion in Rural Areas, New Policy Institute for Observatories Social Exclusion
Partnership – OSEP, 2004).
• Over-indebtedness and personal insolvency are rapidly increasing in the region. Stevenage, for example,
has the eighth highest number of individual voluntary arrangements in the country, while Colchester, Great
Yarmouth and Basildon all appear within the top 20 ranked towns for levels of personal bankruptcy (Town
Territory Ranking for Bankruptcy, Experian, 2006).
ii) Main influencing factors
There are three main factors associated with entry into, or escape from, poverty:
• labour market events
Employment and/or change in earnings are the most important events associated with entry into and escape
from low income. Lack of work is an important risk factor for short-term and persistent low income. Nationally,
among those of working age on persistently low incomes, 60% are in workless households. Income
differentials are generally increasing, and there is little earnings mobility for people on low incomes.
• family-related events
Divorce and childbirth are also associated with changes in income and/or loss of home. Sometimes work
events and family-related events are connected: for example a divorce may lead to a loss of work if a lone
parent cannot make adequate childcare arrangements.
• civil justice problems
People who are already vulnerable to social exclusion are also more likely to encounter problems relating
to rented accommodation, homelessness, welfare benefits, crime, mental health and other ‘civil justice’
issues which can exacerbate poverty (Causes of Action: civil law and social justice, 2nd Edition, Legal
Services Research Centre, 2006).