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Research And Policy News

Current research and policy news from Government departments, research centres, publishers, and relationships and family organisations, along with links to further information.

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February 2007

28 February 2007

Final report of the Equalities Review

The Equalities Review's Final Report, Fairness and Freedom, warns that despite the significant progress achieved over the past 60 years, some kinds of inequality are set to remain at intolerable levels, and calls for a new approach to tackling discrimination and disadvantage. The report warns that unless efforts are drastically stepped up, even the great-great-grandchildren of current legislators will not enjoy the sight of a Parliament with equal numbers of men and women or substantial numbers of ethnic minority MPs.

22 February 2007

Survey of lone parents and the benefits of being in work

An online survey among more than 1,000 lone parents in the UK has shown that over three-quarters (77%) of respondents who have gone back to work say that working has made them feel more independent and 73% felt more confident. The research was commissioned by Jobcentre Plus and carried out by One Parent Families, the national charity for lone parents and their children.

22 February 2007

Teenage conception rates for 2005

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that overall teenage pregnancy rates have continued to fall.

21 February 2007

New measures to improve support for carers

A new package of support for carers has been unveiled by Ivan Lewis, minister for Care Services. The new measures will include £25 million to be spent on providing short-term home based respite care for carers in crisis and emergency situations in every council.

21 February 2007

Marriage rates fall to lowest on record

Marriage rates in England and Wales have fallen to the lowest level since records began, according to provisional figures for 2005 released by the Office for National Statistics. The number of unmarried adults rose in 2005, but the number who chose to marry fell, producing the lowest marriage rates since they were first calculated in 1862. The number of marriages fell by 10 per cent in 2005 to its lowest level since 1896. This fall follows a three-year rise that interrupted a trend of long-term decline.

14 February 2007

UNICEF report on childhood in industrialised countries

A new report providing valuable insight into the well-being of children in 21 industrialised countries, has been released by UNICEF. The report for the first time measures and compares overall child well-being across six dimensions: material well-being, health and safety, education, peer and family relationships, behaviours and risks, and young people’s own subjective sense of their own well-being. In total, 40 separate indicators of child well-being – from relative poverty and child safety, to educational achievement to drug abuse – are brought together in this overview to present a picture of the lives of children. The UK ranks in the bottom third of the country rankings for five of the six dimensions reviewed. While the country ranks higher in the educational well-being dimension, the UK lags behind in terms of relative poverty and deprivation, quality of children’s relationships with their parents and peers, child health and safety, behaviour and risk-taking and subjective well-being.

12 February 2007

Equal Opportunities Commission work-life balance survey

Almost three quarters of Britons think managing to balance work with raising a family and caring will be harder in ten years, according to a new poll of Britain’s views on family and community, released by the Equal Opportunities Commission today (EOC). 82% of people say it is difficult for parents to balance work and home life with 72% saying it will get harder in 10 years.

12 February 2007

All jobs should be flexible, says Children's Minister

All British workers – not just parents – should have the right to request flexible working, according to Children’s Minister Beverley Hughes, writing in a new book for the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr). The Minister argues that the best way to help children see more of their parents and for families of all shapes and sizes – including single people – to cope with increasing pressures is to change fundamentally Britain’s working culture. She argues that extending the right to request flexible working would particularly help parents to balance work around their children, rather than their children around their work, and make it easier for mothers and fathers to share these commitments together.

12 February 2007

Survey reveals widespread confusion about sex and reproduction

Launching this year’s Contraceptive Awareness Week (Reproduction: a quick guide to your body, 12th-18th February), the Family Planning Association has published a new survey testing people’s knowledge about sex and reproduction. The results expose widespread confusion and misunderstanding about some of the most basic facts. Consequently fpa is calling for sex and relationships education to become a statutory subject in the national curriculum.

09 February 2007

The consequences of divorce for financial living standards

New research published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies in its Research Paper, The consequences of divorce for financial living standards in later life, reveals that having been divorced has negative financial consequences for older age.

09 February 2007

Does 'making work pay' work?

The Policy Studies Institute has published two reports considering whether programmes designed to encourage people into work, particularly parents, really help low-income families. Evidence from across the US, UK and Canada shows that in-work payments can increase participation in the workforce for families with children and the US/UK evidence shows that the job entry incentives are greatest and can work best for lone parents and workless households.

08 February 2007

Health led parenting support pilot sites

From april this year first-time parents in 10 areas who are most likely to find being a new parent a big challenge will get extra help from their midwife and health visitor. The health led parent support project will be based on and American scheme whose benefits for babies and children have included improved health, less accidental injuries, better involvement of fathers and being ready for school.

06 February 2007

Children's centres and childminders are working together

A report published by the National Childminding Association shows that children's centres and childminders are working together to give parents greater choice and confidence in childcare.

06 February 2007

New reports on child and maternity services

The UK's National Children's Tsar, Dr Sheila Shribman, has published two reports on the future of child and maternity services; Making it better for mother and baby and Making it better for children and young people.

06 February 2007

Protecting children on the internet

Home Secretary John Reid has proposed strengthening the sex offenders register to better protect children using the internet. As part of his wide-ranging Child Sex Offender Review, John Reid is considering extending the notification requirements for offenders on the register to include their on-line identities such as e-mail addresses and names used in chatrooms.

05 February 2007

YouGov poll on domestic abuse

A YouGov poll for ITV1's This Morning programme on domestic violence shows that 37% of people have been involved in an abusive relationship involving either mental or physical abuse.

05 February 2007

National Marriage Week

The week 7th - 14th February 2007 will be the 10th National Marriage Week. The Houses of Parliament will host the official launch on Monday 5th February and speakers will include the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, Anastasia deWaal, Head of Family Policy at CIVITAS, Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, Broadcaster and novelist, Anne Atkins, and Chair of Centre for Social Justice, Rt Hon’ Iain Duncan Smith MP.

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