Introduction to:Monitoring poverty and social exclusion Launched 23 November 2015

What is it?Monitoring poverty and social exclusion (MPSE) is Joseph Rowntree Foundations annual report revealing the definitive picture of poverty in the UK.

MPSE digital

MPSE printed version

Why is it important?Monitoring poverty and social exclusion is a regular, independent assessment of progress in tackling poverty and other types of disadvantage across the UK. The report, written by the New Policy Institute, uses official data from a range of sources to look at trends and patterns, allowing us to get a better understanding of the contemporary nature of poverty and exclusion.

Sonia Sodha Chief Leader Writer, The Observer

MPSE has become more critical than ever.

Its never been more important to have really robust authoritative data sets and analysis like MPSE...

Julia Unwin Chief Executive, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust

Joseph Rowntree Foundation has been funding the annual report on poverty and social exclusion done by NPI for 18 years. The reason we have done it for so long is because our purpose is to shine a bright light on the very real figures and whats taking place in the country today.

What will have the biggest impact on achieving an all-out assault on poverty? (panel debate)

Shiv Malik Investigative Correspondent for The Guardian and co-author of Jilted Generation: How Britain Has Bankrupted Its Youth

We now have to take a different strategy to reducing poverty in this country... we now have to re-focus our strategy on building assets.

Mark Littlewood Director, Institute of Economic Affairs

An interesting and challenging report

I am not sure there is a single silver bullet but the most silvery of bullets is definitely tackling housing supply

Baroness Stroud of Fulham Co-founder and Chief Executive, Centre for Social Justice

I do think that people on both sides of the political divide now are beginning to ask themselves the question: can we not come together and actually develop metrics that genuinely measure the people who we are most concerned about those who are entrenched in poverty?

Dr Peter Kenway Director and Co-founder, New Policy Institute

I think that the poverty debate needs to re-centre (on what is a very challenging issue) around rights and responsibilities, of people themselves, but also landlords, employers, the state and financial institutions. Its a completely different centering to the debate but its great attraction is that it does not just apply to people on the official statistics who count as being poor.

Tom MacInnes Research Director, New Policy Institute, Co-author of MPSE

Outlines his final thoughts on the report and the key findings.

#MPSEUK15

Headline findings

#MPSE2015 #ukpoverty

Today, more young people

aged 16-24 are in poverty...

...than people aged over 65

1.7 MILLION

1.4 MILLION

#MPSE2015 #ukpoverty

Young people are 4 times more likely to be unemployed and 5 times as likely to be on a zero-hours contract as older workers

Job CentreUnder 25Over 25

4 times as likely to be unemployed

Under 25Over 25

5 times as likely to be on a zero-hours contract

The number of homeless households has risen by 13,000 in the last five years

#MPSE2015 #ukpoverty

2010

2015

40,000

53,00037%in 2015

64%in 2015

Only around 1/3 of children on free school meals achieve five good GCSEs

#MPSE2015 #ukpoverty

2005

2015

650,000

1.3 million

The number of children in poverty living in the private rented sector has

doubled in the last 10 years

#MPSE2015 #ukpoverty

84 per cent of working-age households have at least one adult in work,

the highest percentage since 1996

#MPSE2015 #ukpoverty

having a job is not necessarily a way out of poverty... ... over half of

all people in poverty live in a working family

However

SummaryThe last few years have seen little change in the headlinenumbers of people in poverty, as cuts in welfare for some have been balanced by increasing employment for others. Beneath the surface, however, there have been big changes. Poverty has grown among working families, private renters and the under-25s. The main challenges for the coming years are in the labour and housing markets. The increase in employment needs to translate to an increase in well-paying, secure work essentially, building on the good news of the last couple of years. Fixing the housing market is, if anything, more important. People cannot work their way out of poverty if they do not have a secure, affordable home.

Read the full report www.jrf.org.uk/mpse-2015 Call us for a printed version 0207 5202087

http://www.jrf.org.uk/mpse-2015