ADHD linked to social and economic disadvantage

A study by the University of Exeter Medical School discovered that a greater percentage of children with ADHD came from families below the poverty line than the UK population as a whole. The study found the odds of parents in social housing having a child with ADHD were roughly three times greater than for those who owned their own homes.The team also found that the odds of younger mothers having a child with ADHD were significantly higher than for other mothers. Mothers with no qualifications were more than twice as likely to have a child with ADHD than those with degrees, and lone parents were more likely to have a child with ADHD diagnosis than households with two live-in parents. 

Dr Ginny Russell, who led the study, said: "There is a genetic element to ADHD, but this study provides strong evidence that ADHD is also associated with a disadvantaged social and economic background.

"Some people believe that ADHD in children causes disadvantage to the economic situation of their family, but we found no evidence to support that theory. It's important to discover more about the causes of this disorder so that we can look towards prevention, and so that we can target treatment and support effectively."

Family poverty linked to children with attention disorder The Independent 26th November 2013

Traditional Breadwinner Families Now Largest Group In Poverty

According to figures from NatCen for Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), among the 1.3 million families with children living in poverty:

• 31% (400,000 families) are couple families with a single breadwinner;
• 16% (210,000 families) are dual earning couples;
• 8% (105,000 families) are working lone parents;
• The remaining families are either workless single parents or workless couples.

Another report by IPPR points out the number of single breadwinner couple families has been falling in recent decades, largely the result of social change, with more women wanting to work - but in some cases women need or want to work to make ends meet for their family. The report highlights the need to support more dual earning couples and to enable lone parents to work, or to work more hours, in order to reduce poverty.
Katie Schmuecker, Policy and Research Manager at JRF, said: “The traditional family model where one parent – usually dad – goes out to work and supports his family does not offer a guaranteed route out of poverty in Britain today. Our low pay jobs market means many families that are reliant on a single breadwinner find it hard to make ends meet.

traditional-breadwinner-families-now-largest-group-in-poverty Joseph Rowntree Foundation 13 November 2013

Disabled children's parents pay average surcharge of £5 an hour

After spending hundreds of pounds on childcare over the summer holidays, millions of working parents cannot wait for school to restart this week. But new research shows that the parents of disabled children have been particularly hard hit, having to pay up to £1,200 extra for childcare over the summer. Such parents effectively pay an average surcharge of £5 an hour for their childcare, according to the report by the charity Working Families.
Summer of disability woes: The Independent 1st September 2013

Review: My Aldi Experience!

by Hannah Lazarus

Like many people, I’ve been shocked at how much my family food bills have been going up over the past year. I seem to be spending an awful lot of money every week on not very much! Those student days of doing my weekly shop for £10 are long gone!

I was made redundant when I was on maternity leave and have taken the opportunity to stay at home while my daughter is small. My husband’s wages seem to cover most of the bills (until the dreaded day that the base rate starts to rise!) but all of the food shopping and petrol comes out of my rapidly-depleting savings! So I’m desperately trying to find ways of reducing my family's weekly food bill.

So, this week, I decided to try Ely’s new Aldi...

It was a bit of a mixed experience. Here’s my verdict!

Trolleys

First obstacle – you need a £1 coin for the trolley. Luckily I had one! There were trolleys with child seats in but they didn’t have any straps. Not great if your child is a wriggler!

Layout

So it’s not the most aesthetically-pleasing supermarket I’ve been in, with its no-frills layout, but I’m here to save some cash, so let’s not worry about that!

It’s a small supermarket – there aren’t aisles and aisles of choice. But for me, that’s a good thing as I was in and out much quicker! It’s very much focused on groceries, so not many homewares, clothes and special offers to distract you and entice you to part with more cash!

It was a challenge for me to find what I was after, but that’s the same with any new supermarket that I’ve visited. After a few visits, I’m sure I’ll get used to it!

At the Till

A few challenges for me here. Firstly, no credit cards! Living on savings, I usually do all of my shopping on my credit card and pay it off at the end of the month. But it was debit cards only! Luckily, I’d checked my balance the previous day so I knew I had enough to cover it! Otherwise, I’d be in panic-stations!

Then for the rather unconventional way of packing your shopping! There isn’t much room at the end of the till and the check-out operators seem to be taking part in some sort of speed competition! So you have to put all your groceries back in the trolley, pay and then pack it all in your bags on the shelf behind the tills! (By the way, they charge 3p for a carrier bag – but I brought my own.)

Price

The important part – was it cheaper?!

YES! My shopping came to a grand total of £49.90. I don’t think there was anything I bought that was more expensive than in Tesco, so I must have saved something – although I’m not sure exactly how much! The biggest savings were on non-food items like washing liquid and shampoo. There wasn’t much by way of big brands in Aldi. The only brands I recall seeing were the baby food jars.

The only issue was that I couldn’t get everything I wanted. My daughter has a dairy allergy so needs things like infant soya milk, which I couldn’t get. She also likes the Organix/Goodies children’s snacks, of which there wasn’t much by way of non-brand alternatives. And I needed some eye make-up remover and a lettuce, which I couldn’t find. So I ended up going to Tesco on the way home to pick up a few extras (dashing round as I had meat and some frozen items in the car)! After my Aldi bargains, I couldn’t believe that my two tiny Tesco bags of shopping came to £25!  

I was a little annoyed, however, when I noticed that Tesco were offering £5 off if you spend over £40!  Although I’m pretty sure that I saved over £5...!! If I’m going to start budget shopping, I’m going to have to stop getting lured in by these deals! Then there’s the thorny issue of my Tesco Clubcard! It really does make me feel bound to Tesco! I love the money-off vouchers and reward system! I often buy Christmas presents with them (although I recently spent a voucher on something I didn’t really want because it was almost out of date)! Can I let it go...?!!! Reluctantly, if I save enough money.

The Quality Test

So, I saved some money, but were my cheaper and non-branded items any good?! So far, the meat, fruit and vegetables have all passed the quality test! And I haven’t noticed any difference between the shampoo I bought and my usual branded shampoo, and this was less than half the price. But some of the canned and boxed items I got weren’t the best! The carton of passata was a third of the price of Tesco’s but was a bit watery and the box of bran flakes was less than half the price of Tesco’s own-brand but looked a bit insipid (although they taste ok!)

Overall verdict

Now I know that I was paying over-the-odds for some items, I’m loathe to go back to paying higher prices for things. But it’s going to be a bit of a faff to do shopping in more than one place. I might alternate and do an Aldi shop one week and freeze some stuff and get my other bits from Tesco another week to save me going to two supermarkets a week.

If I’m honest, I’ll be shopping at Aldi out of a need to save money rather than because I enjoy shopping there! But I’m sure I’ll get used to it after a while and, even if I wasn’t desperate to save money, I’d still go every now and again to stock up on a few essentials.

Have you tried budget supermarkets? What was your experience? Let us know by commenting below...

Budget 2013: What's in it for children and families?

by Hannah Lazarus

Yesterday's Budget gave a clear message that the Government wants parents to work. The main policy initiative for families was the introduction of a new ‘Tax-Free Childcare Scheme’ for working families.

Tax-Free Childcare Scheme

From Autumn 2015, the Government will provide 20 per cent of the childcare costs of working families, up to £1,200 per child.

This is equivalent to basic rate tax relief on childcare costs up to £6,000 a year.

Families will be able to open an online voucher account and have their payments ‘topped up’ by the Government. For every 80p they pay in the Government will put in 20p up to an annual limit per child – so the equivalent of the basic rate of income tax.

                                                     

To qualify, all parents living in the household must be working, not receiving tax credits or Universal Credit, and neither earning over £150,000.

The Government will phase out the current ‘Employer Supported Childcare’ system. Existing members of this scheme will be able to choose whether to remain on their current scheme or move to the new scheme (if they are eligible).

The tax exemption available for workplace nurseries will remain.

The new system will be phased in from autumn 2015. From the first year of operation, all children under five will be eligible. Disabled children up to age 16 will also be eligible. The scheme will then build up over time to include children under 12.

The Government will consult shortly on the detailed design and operation of the Tax-Free

Childcare Scheme

How does this differ from the current childcare voucher system?

Under the current Employer Supported Childcare (ESC) system, the Government allows a tax exemption on childcare vouchers. The scheme is only available to around 500,000 families and fewer than 5% of businesses choose to offer it.

The Tax-Free Childcare Scheme offers support to more parents than the ESC. ESC will begin to be phased out when the new voucher system is introduced.

Anyone receiving support through ESC will be able to stay in that scheme if they want to, but it will be replaced for new entrants by the tax-free childcare vouchers when they are launched.

Tax-Free Childcare Scheme	Employer Supported Childcare
1.3 million families with children under 5 (rising to up to 2.5 million families when children under 12 are included)	500,000 families
Available to all eligible families	Relies on employers choosing to offer the scheme
Includes self-employed people	Doesn’t include the self-employed
Pays up to £1,200 per child	Pays up to £900 for each parent regardless of how many children they have
Provides support for children under 5, expanding to under 12′s in the future	Provides support for children up to 15 years old
Provides support for families where all parents are working	Provides support for families where at least one parent works

Childcare support for those qualifying for Universal Credit

The Government also announced that it is to increase assistance for parents who receive childcare support through Universal Credit, which in due course will replace tax credits.

An additional £200 million will be provided to increase childcare support in Universal Credit. This is equivalent to covering 85 per cent of childcare costs for households qualifying for the Universal Credit childcare element (where either a lone parent or both parents in a couple pay income tax).

The aim is to improve work incentives and make it worthwhile for low and middle income earners to work up to full-time hours.

This additional £200 million is planned to be phased in from April 2016.

Free early education and childcare

(not a Budget measure but referred to in Budget documentation)

 

If you have a child aged 3 or 4 you are entitled to 15 hours a week of free early education and childcare. The Government has now committed to extending this to around 20 per cent of the least advantaged two-year-olds, around 150,000 children from September 2013.

In May 2012 the Government confirmed that two-year-olds who live in households which meet the eligibility criteria for free school meals will be entitled to a free early education place, along with children who are looked after by the state.

From September 2014 the number of two-year-olds who will be entitled to a place will rise to around 40 per cent of two-year-olds. The Government proposes to build on the eligibility criteria for the first phase – so children who meet the free school meals criteria or who are looked after would continue to be eligible – and to extend free places to more low-income families, two-year-olds with special educational needs or disabilities, and those who have left care but are unable to return home.

Ministers will seek the views of the early years sector and voluntary groups, to define disadvantage to ensure the funding is targeted on those children who would benefit the most.

Children’s savings

In November 2011, the Government introduced Junior ISA, a new tax-advantaged savings account for children under the age of 18.

Children who have a Child Trust Fund (CTF) are currently ineligible for Junior ISA, although the Government has ensured that children with CTF accounts are not disadvantaged by increasing the CTF subscription limit to equal the Junior ISA limit (£3,600 in 2012-13 and £3,720 in 2013-14).

The Government wants to support parents by ensuring that there continues to be a clear and simple way to save for all children, and will therefore consult on options for transferring savings held in CTFs into Junior ISA.

What did you make of the Budget? Will you benefit or lose out? Let us know by commenting below. (Please note that any views expressed are those of individuals, not of the NCT).

 

Report finds 60% more pregnant women and children living in B&Bs in 2011/2012

Over a third of families with children living in B&Bs have been there longer than the government's six-week limit, a 200% increase in two years.

Local authorities are supposed to use hotels and hostels as a temporary measure. Rooms are often extremely basic. Those placed in such accommodation have no cooking facilities, and usually share bathrooms with other families.

The federation warns that a "perfect storm" of rising rents, insecure private tenancies and a lack of affordable housing has led to a sharp increase in homelessness – with many low-income families now facing "the very real prospect of being homeless". The report, by the National Housing Federation, Homeless Bound which looks at homelessness in London, the South East and the East of England, also found that 

• Homeless acceptances have increased sharply across all three regions in the last two years

• After a long period of decline higher numbers of families with children are again being placed in unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation, and are staying there for longer

• The future funding of vital temporary accommodation for homeless households is in limbo, potentially jeopardising this essential service.

• More people than ever before are becoming homeless as a result of private rented tenancies ending.

13/11/12 The Guardian

More flexible parental leave rights to come into force from 2015

Under the new system:

• A new mother will be able to trigger flexible leave at any point after the first two weeks

• Parents will be able to share the remaining 50 weeks between them as they like

• Leave could be taken in turns or at the same time

• Maximum leave will remain 12 months, nine of them on guaranteed pay

• Couples will need to be "open" with employers and give them "proper notice"

• Paternity leave to remain at two weeks but to be reviewed in 2018

The changes have been broadly welcomed by maternity rights campaign group Maternity Action, but they continue to campaign for

• A four week ‘daddy month’ on top of existing entitlements

• Shared parental leave for fathers where the mother is self-employed or otherwise not entitled to maternity leave

• Shared parental leave can be taken flexibly: on a part time basis or in blocks of time

• Clear rights to paid breastfeeding breaks and facilities
• Increased rates of statutory parental pay

They also point out that 30,000 women each year lose their jobs through pregnancy discrimination

Soaring cost of childcare 'stops parents seeking work'

A report out this week: Counting the Costs of Childcare, by the politically independent Resolution Foundation, found that the rising cost of childcare means that going out to work full-time is now hardly worthwhile for a growing number of "second earners" in middle- and low-income families. In the most extreme case – where a second earner takes a full-time job at the minimum wage – a couple who use childcare could be left just £4 a week better off with two incomes than with one. The study finds that a family with two children in which two earners bring in a total of £44,440 could end up just £4,000 better off than a similar family earning £20,000 less, because of the combined effect of benefits, tax, tax credits and childcare costs. In some cases a family's income can fall when a second earner takes on more hours, because of the complexities of the tax and benefits regime.
The Observer 28/10/12