Problems stark in Sallies’ report
The Salvation Army annually offers an independent report of the state of the nation in social terms. The research of its author and policy analyst, Alan Johnson, carries the added authority of the Sallies’ well-known work in the front line of social support. Discussing this year’s report, Johnson said the 2017 change of government had yet to have an impact on inequality and child poverty.
That is surprising because he also observes “modest growth in wages of the past year”, driven by the Government’s increases in the statutory minimum wage rather than labour shortages. He also reports demand for Sallies’ food parcels declined, reversing a 10-year trend. That, he acknowledges, could be the result of greater government support for households in hardship. Let’s hope so, because the previous
Campaigners were forever telling governments the cure for child poverty was more money.
government increased benefits in April 2017 and this Government lifted them again last year.
Campaigners were forever telling governments the cure for child poverty was more money. So it is surprising that, foodbanks aside, Johnson has found no sign of progress on this front. A 20 per cent quarterly rise in hardship grants in the last year also suggests lowincome and benefit-dependent households are finding it harder to pay the bills. Some of that might be explained by high petrol prices for a period last year and steady increases in tobacco tax will be hitting those households disproportionately.
But the Salvation Army has also warned about a drug appearing at all income levels. Methamphetamine is becoming “possibly a plague”.
It will be interesting to see whether it gets better or worse after the Government’s directive to police that they should not prosecute possession and use of any drugs as a rule, and focus on dealers. The difficulty for police will be that it becomes harder to find the dealers if they cannot threaten to prosecute those in possession. Meth accounted for 45 per cent of drug convictions in the past year.
In good news, youth crime has hit its lowest level in 25 years and there were 600 fewer people in prison.
The teen pregnancy rate is half what it was eight years ago. But youth suicide rose again, with a noticeable increase among young women.
The overall picture offered by the report is of slow progress on most fronts with a few stark problems that need more focused attention from the Government.