The uneven impact of the global economic recession and austerity on places and people: Bristol and...
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Transcript of The uneven impact of the global economic recession and austerity on places and people: Bristol and...
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The uneven impact of the global economic recession and austerity on places and people: Bristol and
Liverpool comparedResearch Workshops: Bristol, 5th November & Liverpool, 15th
November 2013
Patricia Kennett & Jacqui Croft, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol
Richard Meegan & Gerwyn Jones, European Institute for Urban Affairs, LJMU
IntroductionESRC Research Project: Uneven impact of crisis & austerity - Bristol & Liverpool:– interviews with key stakeholders;– social survey 1,013 households in 2
city travel to work areas (Winter 2011);
– follow-up in-depth interviews with 58 households (Winter 2012/13).
Workshop Structure1. Cities, the economic downturn and austerity: impacts and responses.2. The voluntary and community sector: impacts and responses.3. Impacts on and coping strategies of households.4. Concluding comments and discussion.
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1. Cities, the economic downturn and austerity: impacts and
responsesImpacts:• 2 city-regions entering the recession• impact – city-regional economies• impact – local government public
expenditure cuts & welfare reform
Policy responses:• cities and city-regions & ‘localism’
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Great Recession – in UK the latest in
4 post-war recessions
Post-WWII:
• uninterrupted growth for nearly 3 decades
• 4 recessions since • current Great Recession
longest lasting – drop in output but employment/ unemployment ‘paradox’
The four post-war recessions in the UK: GDP annual % change, and Unemployed Persons, Aged 16 and Over, 1971
– 2011
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2 city-regions, 2 different development trajectories
Employment past 4 decades: (UK 1971=100)
Bristol city-region
• sustained growth punctuated by recessions but strong recovery
Liverpool city-region
• decline accelerating through mid-1970s and early 1980s recessions
• late-1990s upturn halted by latest recession
City-regions entering recession – employment change (%) 1997-2008
Both growing
Bristol CR - above national and 2x Liverpool CR
Liverpool CR - upturn after sustained decline
7
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
19.6
18.5
17.617.1
16.215.7
15.314.9
13.1
12.3
9.4
6.9
4.8
3.63.5
City-regions entering recession – population change (%) 1997-2008
Bristol CR
• growing faster than national
Liverpool
• Population still falling – but slowing on previous decades
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-4.0
-2.0
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
10.0
7.77.5
6.05.8
5.0
4.03.93.93.4
2.6
0.9
0.2
-0.6
-1.5
9
City-regions entering recession –
GVA per capita change (%) 1997-2008:
Liverpool CR growth at national rate…slightly above Bristol CR
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
74.773.072.7
68.568.5
63.263.161.1
59.458.658.556.5
54.8
51.250.1
Recession impact - employment change % 2008-12Total employment:• cities – Bristol down more
than Liverpool & national• TTWAs – down about same &
more than national• CRs – BCR down more than
LCR & national
FT employees:• cities – Liverpool down more
than national, Bristol less• TTWAs & CRs down in both
more than national
PT employees:• up significantly in Liverpool -
city, TTWA & CR • up in Bristol - TTWA and CR
but city exception …‘underemployment’
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Recession impact - employment change by sector (%) 2008-2012 National gains/local falls:• mining/utilities(Liverpool)• education (both)National losses/local gains:• info& communication (both)• motor trades (Liverpool)• accommodation & food (both)• transport & wholesale
(Liverpool)• business admin (Liverpool)• arts, entertainment (Bristol)• public admin & defence
(Bristol)National & local gains:• health, professionalNational & local losses:• retail, construction,
manufacturing
Job Loss/Gain Sectors GB Bristol TTWA
Liverpool TTWA
Largest National
Increases ↑
Largest National
Falls ↓
Health Professional, scientific & technical
Mining, quarrying & utilities
Education Property Agriculture, forestry & fishing)
Information & communication
Motor trades Accommodation & food services
Transport & storage (inc postal)
Wholesale Business administration & support services
Arts, entertainment, recreation & other services
Financial & insurance Public administration & defence
Retail Construction Manufacturing
Total Green = increase; Red = fall
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Recession impact - % change in real earnings (residence-based)
Marked drop in real earnings with recession, notably in:
• BANES
• Liverpool & Sefton
LIVERPOOL
Sefton
Halton
St. Helens
Wirr
al
Knowsley
Bath &
NE Somerset
BRISTOL
South Gloucs
North Somerse
t UK-10.0
-5.0
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
14.5
9.6
4.5
16.7
4.6
13.3
4.4
6.3
9.810.6
8.6
-7.7 -7.4-6.6
-5.0-3.9
-2.7
-7.7
-5.9 -5.7-4.5
-7.2
2002-08 % change 2008-12 % change
Recession impact - unemployment rates, 16-64s, 2004-12
Total, males and females up in both - cf. national:• gap widening Liverpool• gap closing Bristol
Males:• Liverpool city - recent upturn
following 2009 peak • Bristol peaked later – 2011 –
but recent downturn
Females:• Liverpool city - peaked 2010
followed by downturn• Bristol city - peaked year
earlier but recent upturn
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0
5
10
15
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Total unemployment LiverpoolLALiverpoolcity-regionEngland
Bristol, Cityof, LABristol city-region
0
5
10
15
20
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Male unemployment Liverpool LA
Liverpoolcity-regionEngland
Bristol, Cityof, LABristol city-region
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Female unemployment LiverpoolLALiverpoolcity-regionEngland
Bristol city-regionBristol,City of, LA
Recession impact - unemployment rates, 16-24s, 2004-12
YOUTH hit hard in both cities
Bristol - from lower base: • city claimants rate up 6
times to recession peak and 7.5 times for city-region (GB 4 times)
• numbers up 6 times in city and nearly 7 times in city-region
• …a significant new policy issue?
Liverpool : more of the same with gap with national widening
14
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
16-24s Unemployment rate Liverpool
Liverpoolcity-regionBristol, CityofEngland
Bristol city-region
1.2
3.2
1.4
3.0
0.5
2.1
0.3
1.8
0.2
1.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Jan-Sept2013
16-24s Claimant Count - Over 6 monthsLiverpool city-regionLiverpool
Great Britain
Bristol, City of
Bristol city-region
2091,145
318
2,298
1,232
2,390 2,158
6,240
- 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000
Bristol Liverpool Bristol city-region Liverpool city-region
16-24s Claimant Count - Over 6 months2008 2012
Recession impact – population change (%) 2008-2012
Population growth:
• continuing in Bristol CR – just above national
• previous decline converted into growth in Liverpool CR – albeit lowest of capital and other second-tier CRs
15
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
5.4
4.3
3.7
3.4
3.23.13.03.03.0
2.3
2.01.91.8
1.6
1.3
16
Recession impact – GVA per capita change (%) 2008-2011
GVA per capita:
• holding up in both Bristol and Liverpool CRs - equal 3rd highest increase and just above national
• BUT…
-4.0
-3.0
-2.0
-1.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
4.5
2.12.02.01.8
1.31.11.1
0.8
0.1
-0.6-0.7
-1.6
-1.9
-2.8
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GVA per capita, 2011
…GVA per capita in Liverpool CR still lowest of capital and second-tier CRs
London
Edinburgh
Bristol
Belfast
Leeds
Glasgo
w
Leiceste
r
Nottingham
Birmingh
am
Mancheste
r
Sheffield
Newcastle
u Tyne
Cardiff
Liverpool
-
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
City-region UK£
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Austerity – local government cuts
Cuts biased towards more disadvantaged local authorities:
Cuts larger in Liverpool CR than Bristol CR
Knowsley
St Hele
ns
Wirr
al
BRISTOL
North So
merset
-£400
-£350
-£300
-£250
-£200
-£150
-£100
-£50
-£336-£329
-£231-£220
-£208
-£173
-£117
-£69 -£69-£61
Cumulative reduction in Revenue Spending Power 2010/11 to 2014/15, £s per person - Bristol and Liverpool city-regions
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Austerity – local government cuts -
Liverpool - biggest cuts of core cities
Bristol - lowest
Liverp
ool
Manch
ester
Birmingh
am
Newca
stle
Nottingham
Sheffi
eld
Leed
sBris
tol
Core Cities A
verage
-£350
-£300
-£250
-£200
-£150
-£100
-£50
-£329
-£284
-£227-£218
-£211
-£198
-£130
-£117
-£214
Cumulative reduction in Revenue Spending Power 2010/11 to 2014/15, £s per person - Core Cities
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0.00% 1.00% 2.00% 3.00% 4.00% 5.00% 6.00% 7.00% 8.00% 9.00% 10.00%0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Cuts in Spending Power vs. Indices of Deprivation
Unitaries
London Boroughs
Metropolitan Districts
Core Cities
Cuts after transition grant http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/xls/1796201.xls
IMD2
007
Aver
age
dist
rict
sco
re h
ttp://
ww
w.c
omm
uniti
es.g
ov.u
k/do
cum
ents
/com
mun
ities
/733
520.
LIVERPOOL
MANCHESTER11
14
3,23,20,7,21
15
1617
139
29
12
18
2824
2726
6 SHEFFIELD
BIRMINGHAM
NOTTINGHAM
NEWCASTLE
LEEDS
BRISTOL
54
10
12
25
8
19
22
30
21
Welfare reform - cuts in train
Bigger cuts in Liverpool CR than Bristol
Total Impact of Welfare Cuts to 2014/15: Financial loss per working age adult, £s per year
Knowsley
St. Helens
Bath &
N. East
Somerset
S. Glouc
-900
-800
-700
-600
-500
-400
-300
-200
-100
0
-797
-702
-589
-632 -636-620
-350
-480 -472
-335
GB
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Welfare reform - cuts in train
Liverpool biggest cuts of core cities
Bristol 6th
Total Impact of Welfare Cuts to 2014/15 - Financial loss per working age adult, £s per year (GB=£470)
LIVER
POOL
Mancheste
r
Newcastle
Sheffield
-800
-700
-600
-500
-400
-300
-200
-100
0
-702
-607 -605
-560
-490 -480 -471 -460
GB
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Policy responses – urban governance and ‘localism’
Urban government and urban governance balancing act:
• coping with public spending cuts
• engaging with ‘localism’: elected Mayors, LEPs, ‘city deals’, Combined Authority (Liverpool CR)
• city and city-regional arrangements
Core Cities Bristol Liverpool Core Cities Group Lobbying for central government supportElected Mayors Independent Leader Labour GroupMayoral Commissions Education and skills (focus on
young people) Fairness (reducing inequalities) Homes (provision of affordable
housing) Sports (raising participation in
sport and physical activity).
Health (health and wellbeing) Education (future of education
in city) Europe (maximising EU funding) Fairness (embedding fairness
political, business and civic life)& Mayor’s Poverty Action Group
Key Projects Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone European Green Capital
programme (2015) Mayor’s Fund for Bristol –
charitable donations for third sector support
Mayoral Investment Board Mayoral Development
Corporation: - Liverpool City Enterprise Zone - 5 Mayoral Development Zones
City-regions West of England LEP Liverpool City LEPEconomic development: key sectors
Creative and media Advanced engineering, aerospace
and defence Micro-electronics and silicon
design Environmental technologies and
marine renewables Tourism
Low carbon economy Knowledge economy Visitor economy Superport
Key projects Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone (Bristol)
5 Enterprise Areas: Avonmouth Severnside; Bath City Riverside; Emersons Green (inc. Bristol and Bath Science Park); Filton; Junction 21 (Weston-super-Mare)
Port - new deep-water container terminal
Mersey Gateway river crossing Liverpool BioCampus Wirral Waters and Liverpool
Waters waterfront redevelopment - Mersey Waters Enterprise Zone/ International Trade Centre
City Deals Business rate retention Transport funding (Greater
Bristol Metro and Bus Road Transit Network)
Public Property Board managing land and property assets
City growth hub for inward investors in Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone
Skills development including Skills Funding Agency funding for Further Education colleges
Trade and inward investment - International Business Festival
Skills and worklessness - funding for job training and apprenticeships;
Transport - transport investment fund
Promotion of science and knowledge assets
Low carbon economy - offshore wind infrastructure pilot
River Mersey clean up
What we know nationally (1)
3 Transmission Mechanisms:(i) Central government austerity/cuts(ii) Decreased charitable giving(iii) Increased demand
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What we know nationally (2)
• Impact on VCS uneven• Dependency on statutory funding & cuts made
by LAs key:Most deprived LAs biggest cuts In most deprived LAs vol. sector 4x more
likely say statutory funding most important income source
VCS working with most disadvantaged groups most dependent on statutory funding
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Liverpool and Bristol
3 major differences influencing impact on voluntary sector locally:(i) scale of cuts from Government to LA(ii) dependency on statutory funding(iii) socio-economic profile of population – influence on demand
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Voluntary Sector Statutory Funding Recipients
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Levels of Deprivation: IMD 2010
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Who uses voluntary sector services?• Most socio-economically deprived households
(& much more of these in Liverpool)
• Who used CAB for financial advice past 3 years?10% of total cohort BUT 20% of lower income families
• Low income families 3x more likely use welfare rights advisor
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A Struggling Sector in Liverpool• “[After] the general election the cuts started…
[and] we lost eighty grand of our core funding…more than half of our income…That was entirely down to area based grants, which were abolished.” [Liverpool VCS organisation]
• “In April 2011 we laid off 60 per cent of our staff…thirty four people out of the door…That hurt.” [Liverpool VCS organisation]
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And Strugglers in Bristol…
For those too dependent on statutory funding:
• “Being too dependent on one source of funding is really unhealthy…So [for us] to be dependent on the [city] council was always not [a] very clever [strategy].” [Bristol VCS organisation]
• “You don’t have to look very far to see agencies which are entirely folded and stopped altogether because of the economic downturn…or services which still exist, but exist on a much reduced basis.” [Bristol VCS organisation]
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Who is struggling?
• Those serving most deprived people & places hit hardest – more dependence on statutory funding:
• “We lost about half of our local authority financial [support]. That particularly impacted our refugee support work, because all of that had been funded either by area based grants, which no longer existed, or CRU [CC community resource unit) funding, which was cut in accordance with the revenue support grant.” [Liverpool VCS organisation]
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But more demand!
• “We’ve had a 15% increase in demand for the service this year [2011]…It could be higher, but we can only cope with as much as we can cope with…We’re turning people away all of the time.” [Bristol VCS organisation]
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How is the sector responding? (1)
• Short term survival strategies:staff redundancieswage freezesrolling monthly contractsFT to PT workinguse of financial reserves
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How is the sector responding (2)• “Immigration services down the road went from 12 staff
to one…That’s not even sustaining a service…basically all that person is doing is putting the organisation to pasture, concluding all existing case work with a view to ending the service.” [Bristol VCS organisation]
• “Voluntary organisations are living off their reserves and they’re at the point now, where for many they’re operating as a shell of their former selves so they have reduced their full time staff or even down to zero and they’re just operating as volunteers and looking for better times.” [Liverpool VCS organisation]
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How is the sector responding? (3) • Some organisations coping better where pots of funding
still available – e.g. debt & financial advice:
• “We’re a specialist debt advice agency…that’s fairly unique in the sector…and we’ve been able to sustain ourselves a bit better.” [Bristol VCS organisation]
• “You’re beginning to get a skewing of the voluntary sector provision according to what are macro problems in society, so the advice organisations are getting by, and others working at a more preventative level are struggling.” [Liverpool VCS organisation]
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How is the sector responding? (4)
• Medium & Longer term strategies:increased collaborationcharging for servicesaccessing local philanthropy
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How is the sector responding? (5)
• “There has been a shift for groups being encouraged to collaborate and work more in partnership…Groups are being forced to work in partnership [by funders]…some groups aren’t going to survive…because there isn’t the funding…or they don’t have the capacity to work in a different way.” [Bristol VCS organisation]
• “Our traditional services, such as specialist business support for the voluntary sector; we [now] only give a small amount of that service for free, the rest is chargeable.” [Liverpool VCS organisation]
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How the sector is responding (6)• BUT warnings that less well off people and
organisations, in poorest areas may miss out:
• “We’ve introduced charging for services…But it does skew the support because it means that it goes to those who can pay…and [disadvantaged] areas of the city where we would like to invest time and energy…we’re limited how much we can [help]…In the longer terms it means those areas that are most disadvantaged are also the furthest away from support of an organisation like ours.” [Liverpool VCS organisation]
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How the sector is responding (7)
• Accessing business philanthropy obstacles:
Faltering economic growth & private sector still struggling
Philanthropy goes to those who give best company PR
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How is the sector responding (8)
• “For a business to get involved with a charity they’ve got to gain something from it…a charity that’ll bring them some kudos and some [positive] media coverage…A charity that works with drug and alcohol clients, businesses don’t want to get involved in that…It’s only selected charities, and it tend to be children’s and older people’s.” [Liverpool VCS organisation]
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So what for the VCS?• Unevenness of impact leading to cut services
and vital provision to most disadvantaged people & places
• Increased marketization?• Skewing of provision?• Relationships & more innovation key – Mayor’s
Hope Conference a start in Liverpool? VCS Assembly & Networks in Bristol?
• BUT VCS a missing partner in ‘new’ governance structures?
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3. Impacts on and coping strategies of households
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Crisis and Austerity in Everyday Lives
2008-2009 – • Labour market impact and falls in income• Middle-upper income groups as well as
working age adults without children suffered greatest unemployment
• Fall in real incomes, larger proportionate reductions at higher points of income distribution
• Combined with benefit and tax credit increases contributed to decreasing inequality .
Perceived changes in households finances by Acorn group
Ability to meet living costs by Acorn group
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Household Responses
• Spending less & being more careful about spending most common response.
• Other actions included: changing shopping habits, cutting back on luxury items and eating out, cutting back on utilities, buying more on credit and saving less.
• Quarter of households had cut back on everything – women, ‘Struggling Families’ and ‘Burdened Singles’ as well as households with dependants.
• ‘Secure Families’ most likely to have postponed major expenditure, paid off mortgages earlier or made additional payments.
12
50
39
32
30
30
25
40
21
19
8
5
36
9 8
Spent More
Spent Less
Cut back luxury items
Cut back eating out
Cut back on travelling
Cut back on utilities
Cut back on everything
Changed shopping habits
Postponded major expenditure
Used car less
Bought more on credit
Paid off mortgage early/made additional repayments
Saved less
Saved more
None of these
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Changes made by households past 3
years with and without
dependants
• Households with dependants more likely to have spent less and been more careful across a range of activities compared to households without dependants.
• Households without dependants more likely to state `none of these’ responses.
Spen
t more
Spen
t less
Cut bac
k luxu
ry ite
ms
Cut bac
k eati
ng out
Cut bac
k trav
elling
Cut bac
k utiliti
es
Cut bac
k on ev
eryth
ing
Change
d shopping h
abits
Postponed
majo
r exp
enditu
re
Used car le
ss
Bought m
ore on cred
it
Paid off m
ortgag
e earl
y/mad
e additional
payments
Save
d less
Save
d more
None of th
ese
15
5952
44 4134 34
54
2620
156
40
93
11
47
34
2726
2922
35
19
19
5
5
35
810
No Dependants
Dependants
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Actions Taken by Households
• Demonstrates importance of household resources, as well as those of family and informal networks.
• Using money from savings to meet expenses and pay bills.
• Lending money to family or friends to help pay bills.
20%
23%
4%
33%
2%
3%1%
42%
Borrowed money from a family member or friend to help pay the bills
Lent money to family members or friends to help them pay the bills
Had your children move back in to the family home to save money
Used money from your savings to meet expenses or pay your bills
Remortgaged your home
Postponed getting married or having a baby
Other
None of these
Household survey (December 2011)
Least affected:• ‘Flourishing Families’, ‘Affluent Greys’,
‘Prudent Pensioners’ (‘Educated Urbanites’ & ‘Starting Out’s’ on some categories)
• ‘Owner occupiers’ (and private tenants on some categories)
• Males• Households with no dependants
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Household surveyMost negatively affected:
– ‘Struggling Families’ & ‘Burdened Singles’
– ‘Social Tenants’ – Females– Households with dependants
i.e. most disadvantaged households hit hardest – in both cities
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Survey finding reinforced in follow-up interviews a year
later 4 broad household groups:
• ‘Thriving’ - little impact and significant financial resilience
• ‘Getting by’ - affected (reduced wages, pay freezes, increased living costs) but resilience factors
• ‘Vulnerable’ – badly affected, debts, diminishing savings, vulnerability to benefit changes, income cuts
• ‘Struggling’ – no financial resilience at onset of recession and to future ‘shocks’
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Educated Urbanite in secure, well paid employment (‘Thriving’)
• 31 year old single female, no dependants, working full-time on permanent contract. Gross annual income between £45,000 and £54,999.
• Living in city centre apartment, renting from private landlord. Aspirations to buy own property, saving for deposit.
• Downturn not affected her much, other than noticing bills rising and being aware of impact on housing market.
• Overall interviewee coping very well through downturn. Single, no dependants, and with a well-paid secure job, in which she had received above inflation annual pay rises of over 5% in past three years.
• She was planning for the future and managing to save regularly, which gave her further resilience.
• I
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Financial insulation from property portfolio (‘Thriving’)
• 40 year old female living with partner and two young dependants, working part-time on a secure, permanent contract. Partner relatively secure, full-time employment. Annual gross income between £55,000 and £99,999.
• In addition, household’s income supplemented by a property portfolio (5 properties) accumulated over the past 20 years.
• One was the respondents first home that she kept when she moved in with her partner, with the mortgage cleared by a gift from her parents. Another was her partner’s mother’s former house, the other three were properties that they had bought and renovated - on buy to let mortgages.
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Middle to high earners becoming squeezed by rising living costs (‘Getting
by’)• 40 year old female married with two dependants,
working full-time in fairly secure job with annual gross income of approx. £80,000. A homeowner, paying £1,400 a month in mortgage repayments. Property worth about the same as owed on it.
• Downturn had fairly big impact; rising living expenses such as food shopping, utilities and fuel. While having enough to meet basic living expenses, no spare income to invest in savings.
• In spite of good earnings household struggling to meet financial commitments and felt this had got worse during economic downturn. Managing to meet bills, but only with careful budgeting and finding it harder to cope financially.
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‘Getting by’ but limited resilience• Overall household had good asset wealth, and
both bread winners on good wages, meaning they were able to ‘get by’.
• But they had no other form of resilience. Losing a salary in future could make a huge difference to the financial survival of this household. Although they did feel secure in their jobs at present, the interviewee was aware of their precarious position and had some insurances as protection.
57
Squeezed incomes and debt accumulation (‘Vulnerable’)
• 41 year old female living with partner and two dependants. Both working full-time (public sector and third sector). Owner occupiers who had lived in their house for over 10 years. Annual household income between £35,000 and £44,999, having reduced by approximately £2,000 over the past three years. Pay freezes; a job redeployment which led to a reduction in wages; loss of family working tax credits; and increasing pension contributions - key factors leading to this reduction.
• Day to day living expenses increasingly difficult to afford large credit card debts (£40,000) racked up. Increasing day to day living expenses and increasing credit card interest rates since the credit crunch in 2008 identified as key reasons for spiralling debts.
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Squeezed incomes and debt accumulation (‘Vulnerable’) – contd.
• Great deal of uncertainty with regard to their future outlook as Government’s austerity measures continue to be rolled out, affecting public and third sector employment.
• Overall a household attempting to do the ‘right’ things in working, owning a home, and juggling family life, but finding themselves facing some uncertainly in the face of increasing living costs; debt; and the shadow of austerity cuts on both their employment situations.
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Redundancy, diminishing income, and future income uncertainty (‘Struggling’)
• This 31 year old female respondent was married with one dependant, working full time as an NHS nurse. Her partner was self-employed, having previously been made redundant from full time employment in construction industry.
• They had coped by claiming some benefits and using their savings. Over the last 3 years they had used all of their savings, and were no longer eligible for benefits.
• Partner recently started his own business, but income was low and irregular. Their annual gross income was between £25,000 and £34,999.
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‘Struggling’ – ‘cut back on everything’• Household cut back on everything, with just enough income to
cover basic expenses. Experienced trouble paying rent, which was £650 a month.
• A precariously placed ‘struggling family’ with few options to build financial resilience. All income going towards day to day living costs.
• Past coping strategy of increasing working hours to provide resilience no longer open to them, because of changes in both work situations.
• Being a nurse in the NHS, current austerity measures had placed the respondent in a very uncertain position with regard to future employment and earnings. Interviewee suggested that situation may yet worsen, and with her being the main bread winner, any future decreases in her wages, would leave household in a very fragile position
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4. Concluding comments and discussion
• Impacts and responses to crisis and austerity a ‘moving target’.
• Impacts uneven, widespread and interconnected.
• Growing divisions within and between city regions and groups of people.
• Winners & losers – organisations, people & places…intensified in recovery?
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Policies for a sustainable future?
• National policy debates – costs of living, social mobility, monetary and fiscal policy.
• Sectoral and spatial rebalancing of the economy…but incoherent national economic development strategy and urban policy?
• Urban governance and localism – city and/or city-regional?
• Innovative but fragmented urban governance?• Changing relationships – local government, business,
and voluntary sector? ‘Representative’ or ‘conditional’ localism?
• Eroded resilience or adaptation and restructuring?