Droevig vooruitzicht voor jonge kinderen

Tegenwoordig vindt men meerdere mensen die met twee moeten gaan werken om de eindjes aan elkaar te knopen. Ze vertrekken ‘s morgens vroeg als het nog donker is en  komen ‘s avonds pas terug thuis als de zon al lang onder is gegaan. Veel zien ze niet van hun kinderen.

Het huis waar zij dan in het donker toekomen moet verlicht en verwarmd worden. De nodige energie moeten zij bij één of andere maatschappij aankopen , plus daarbij de distributeur betalen, die hen ook nog eens de verliezen van de groen certificaten wil aanreken. Het is geweldig dat er meer alternatieven worden gezocht om de nodige energie te voorzien en toch het milieu te besparen, maar dit moet niet onnodig ten koste gaan van diegenen die zich geen ecologische systemen kunnen aanschaffen of ze niet kunnen plaatsen omdat het huis niet van hen is. Al de bewoners die in een sociale woning hun intrek kunnen nemen moeten in veel gevallen nog opkijken naar minder goed geïsoleerde huizen, maar hebben het recht niet om zelf grote energie besparende werken uit te voeren. Voor de kleine energiebesparende verrichtingen, zoals de nodige isolatie kunnen zij dan niet zoals andere burgers een subsidie krijgen. Zij vallen steeds uit de boot voor zulke bijkomende maatregelen van de regering voor de verbetering van de ecologische voetafdruk.

Het vergiftigd geschenk dat de Belgische regering aan haar burgers heeft aangeboden door de Groenestroom certificaten heeft ook in Groot-Brittannië zijn evenknie.

Boekhouders PwC hebben een somber beeld in de kranten van gisteren geschetst. zij stellen dat de “baby busters” (tegenovergesteld aan de “baby boomers”)  25% slechter af kunnen zijn dan hun ouders wegens hogere huisprijzen en lagere pensioenen.

PwC vergeleek de carrièrevooruitzichten van twee overheidsdokters (NHS dokters) waarvan de een geboren in 1963 en de andere in 1993, beide trouwden en twee kinderen kregen. Zij wezen er ook op dat de verschillen groter kunnen zijn voor die met minder waardevolle banen dan dokters, zegt PwC, die slechts onderstreept hoe onstabiel enige van deze ramingen kunnen zijn.

In Groot-Brittannië zal volgens een, dinsdag in Londen gepubliceerd, rapport van de Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) , in 2020 één kind op vier in armoede leven. Het gemiddelde inkomen van de gezinnen daalt in de periode van 2009 tot 2012 met zeven procent. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van het .

Ook het Verenigd Koninkrijk heeft te kampen met de rijzende voedselprijzen. In België zijn veel firma’s overgegaan op het verkleinen van de verpakkingen zonder dat de consument er al te veel van merkte en dikwijls met grote slogans als “Nieuw”. Groot probleem is dat het ook met echt dagelijks noodzakelijke voedingsmiddelen gebeurde, waarbij de consument dikwijls niet meer stil staat bij de prijs per kilo, omdat hij het toch nodig heeft.

Zoals hier de prijzen gestegen zijn lopen ze ook in het Verenigd Koninkrijk op  met 4,5 procent in de periode 2009 tot 2012. Alleen al daardoor worden volgens de berekeningen van IFS 600.000 kinderen en 800.000 volwassenen in arbeidsongeschikte leeftijd in de armoede gedrukt. De armoedegrens is per definitie bereikt als het gezinsinkomen onder 60 procent van de gemiddelde waarde valt.

Een door de conservatief-liberale regeringscoalitie op gang gebracht pakket voor de hervorming van het sociaal systeem onder de naam “Universal Credit” kan het probleem verlichten, beoordeelden de experten. 450.000 kinderen en 600.000 volwassenen vinden daardoor een uitweg uit de relatieve armoede. In elk geval wordt dat positief effect door een hele resem nieuwe regeringsbeslissingen bij belastingen en sociale uitkeringen meer dan teniet gedaan.

Groot-Brittannië zou daarmee zijn zelfopgelegde doelstellingen tegen kinderarmoede serieus rateren. Het parlement had in 2010 met partij overstijgende toestemming besloten dat tegen 2020 niet meer dan tien procent van alle kinderen in relatieve armoede zou mogen leven.

Voor de helft van het land geen NHS tandartsen - Daily Mail's dubious claim about NHS dentistry - Image by engineroomblog via Flickr

The Daily Mail’skijk op het IFS raport laat te verstaan dat het eigenlijk nog slechter is gesteld met de kinderen dan dat de officiële instanties willen doen geloven. Ook hier in België merkt men dat sommige instanties bepaalde situaties niet onder ogen willen zien of verzwijgen. Voor de Daily Mail is er het vooruitzicht dat “de gemiddelde familie” – een belangrijk deel van haar Middenklasse in Groot-Brittannië volgens haar oproep te kennen gaf dat zij £2,000 per jaar slechter af zouden zijn tegen 2013. Dat zou een inkomen geven van £28,000 op een jaar in plaats van £30,000 voor het “typische paar” met twee kinderen, zegt de populaire volkskrant.  Wat mij toch nog een hoog inkomen lijkt. Meerdere gezinnen moeten het met veel minder zien te klaren.

Het zijn natuurlijk niet enkel de absolute kosten die zes keer sneller omhoog zijn gegaan  dan het gezinsinkomens sinds 2004 – 117%, maar de relatieve kosten vergeleken met geblokkeerd loon en voordelen.
Tegelijkertijd vindt men in Engeland de energiesecretaris, Chris Huhne die hard zijn best doet om een groener elektriciteitsaanbodsysteem te creëren dat dan wel een prijskaartje zal dragen van £200bn extra investering.

Lees hier meer over in: Bleak forecasts for children in the UK

Bekijk video: Report: UK Living Standards Will Plummet (Sky)

We are particularly concerned that the proposed cap on benefits will cut support to more than 200,000 children and potentially make 82,000 children homeless.

Bob Reitemeier, chief executive of the Children’s Society

Alison Garnham, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, said: “The Government must accept that you cannot fight poverty or improve life chances by making the poor poorer.”

However, the report does say the Universal Credit – the Government’s flagship welfare reform – will lift around 450,000 children and 600,000 working age adults out of relative poverty by 2020/21.

+ reactions: … interested how the figures were made up – not suprisingly the highest ethnic group in the poverty trap will be the ones who have the most children.

+

Aanverwant:

• Energie met vergiftigd geschenk (marcus ampe)
• Securing risks (marcus ampe)
• Hongerwapen (marcus ampe)
• US poverty worse than previous recessions (marcus ampe)

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  Families will see the largest ‘three year fall’ in their income for 35 years, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).This will effectively wipe £2,000 off the annual average family income. The report by the IFS found that the average income is expected to fall by 7% for 2012-2013, compared to 2009-2010.This is the largest fall in income for UK families since the mid 1970s and it could take until 2015 before households recover to pre-rescission levels.
• Brit Kids ‘Face Soaring Poverty Over Reforms’ (news.sky.com) inclsief enkele video”s
  The “squeezed middle” will also be hit by the biggest drop in average incomes since the 1970s, according to a bleak report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).Typical families will see their annual income drop by around £2,000 by 2013, it said.The IFS blames the tough economic situation and – more controversially – the Government’s welfare policies.

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• Falling incomes poverty warning (bbc.co.uk)
  The prospects remain uncertain for the poorest in 2015 – with the IFS predicting that the number of working-age adults in absolute poverty will remain at 2.5 million for parents and will rise to 4.1 million for working-age adults without children.
  Continue reading the main story“This would be the largest three-year fall in median income since 1974-77”Robert Joyce IFS report co-author

  By 2020, the IFS is projecting there will be 4.7 million working-age adults without children in absolute poverty, up by 1.6 million compared with 2009.

  

  Sally Copley of Save the Children explains how child poverty is defined

• UK seeing ‘big rise in poverty’ (bbc.co.uk)
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  As members of the Campaign to End Child Poverty we are alarmed to see new projections confirming what we all feared: that child poverty rates are on the increase and 800,000 more children will be in poverty by 2020 (Report, 11 October). The Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis shows that, although universal credit will help reduce numbers in poverty, it cannot reverse the impact of massive cuts to welfarebenefits, rising inflation, stagnating wages and higher unemployment. In fact the share of national income of our poorest households is set to shrink.In a rich country that already has shamefully high child poverty levels, this news is devastating. If allowed to happen, it will reverse the progress made over the past decade and set us back to the rapidly rising child poverty rates of the 1980s and 1990s. Generations suffered lasting damage as a result. We call on the government to recognise the urgency of the situation and take immediate steps to reduce child poverty if it is going to stand any chance of honouring the commitments on child poverty made in the coalition agreement.
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  That is defined as being in a family where the income is less than 60% of the national average.

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