Family Futures: Childhood and Poverty in Urban Neighbourhoods

FAMILY FUTURES......Page 2
Contents......Page 4
List of tables and figures......Page 7
Acknowledgements......Page 9
1. Introduction......Page 10
Poor areas, poor families......Page 12
Two hundred families......Page 15
A decade of targeted efforts......Page 19
Outline of the book......Page 20
Mining the evidence......Page 22
Introduction: Community spirit......Page 26
Can families influence what happens?......Page 27
Community involvement: “Lots to do here”......Page 32
Neighbours: “I actually try and help people”......Page 34
Voluntary work strengthens community ties......Page 35
A helping hand: “Something that touches us”......Page 37
Troubling barriers to community spirit: “There’s no longer that nice balance”......Page 41
Overcoming the barriers: “Somewhere for people just to chill out”......Page 47
Sure Start and community involvement: “The Sure Start programme is absolutely wonderful”......Page 51
Summary and conclusions......Page 57
Introduction: Why schools matter......Page 62
Parents’ experiences of local schools......Page 63
The benefits of local schools......Page 66
Secondary schools: the big challenge......Page 69
Segregated schools: “No community mix”......Page 81
Special learning difficulties: “He’s in his own world”......Page 86
Summary and conclusions......Page 91
Introduction: “Letting off steam”......Page 96
Children and young people’s need for space and leisure activities......Page 97
Why informal outdoor play and activity are difficult in disadvantaged neighbourhoods......Page 103
Pressures on space: “All been built up”......Page 109
Too few, too expensive facilities: “There’s a huge need”......Page 110
Helping children and young people get involved......Page 124
Summary and conclusions......Page 128
Introduction: Crime and fear......Page 132
General crime and safety in the neighbourhoods......Page 133
Families witness crime......Page 137
Neighbourhood wardens......Page 140
Police Community Support Officers......Page 143
Difficult tensions between community policing and law enforcement......Page 149
The limits of local anti-crime initiatives: “We need more visible proper police”......Page 151
Neighbourhood Watch......Page 154
The families’ views on Anti-social Behaviour Orders: “People need support, not a label”......Page 156
Does crime prevention work?......Page 158
Summary and conclusions......Page 159
Introduction......Page 164
Ill health and local services......Page 165
Do neighbourhoods affect health?......Page 168
Health and lifestyle: “Really abusive”......Page 169
Chronic illness: “More medication”......Page 171
Stress, anxiety and depression......Page 175
Neighbourhood conditions and health problems: “I need to get away from this noisy place”......Page 179
Family pressures and mental health......Page 185
Summary and conclusions......Page 189
Introduction......Page 196
Where families started from......Page 197
Low-paid jobs and parenting......Page 202
How work changed over the course of our visits......Page 203
Training and studying......Page 206
How families’ lives changed through training and jobs: “They’ve improved job prospects”......Page 207
Barriers to training: “I was frustrated”......Page 210
Introduction of tax credits: “I have got to pay them back”......Page 214
Confusion in the system: “They’ve got it all wrong”......Page 215
The stress of overpayments and loss of tax credits: “Spend it before they could take it back”......Page 218
A mixed blessing, but on balance tax credits helped: “It’s good to work though”......Page 220
Helping parents work: “I can’t survive without them”......Page 224
Parents need a clearer and more generous system: “It’s targeting the most vulnerable of society”......Page 226
Summary and conclusions......Page 228
Introduction......Page 234
Council landlords and other tenures......Page 235
Owning or renting a home......Page 237
Housing conditions......Page 238
Upgrading social housing – the Decent Homes programme: “You need a decent home”......Page 241
Local environment: “The areas we all share”......Page 246
Facelift scheme to upgrade street facades: “Improved a lot”......Page 247
Social problems and housing: “They should get their priorities right”......Page 249
Access to housing......Page 251
Paedophiles: “One moved to a high-rise block here”......Page 254
Regeneration and the impact of demolition: “More far reaching than you think”......Page 256
Gentrification: “People who won’t mingle”......Page 263
New Deal for Communities......Page 264
Summary and conclusions......Page 270
Introduction: “Getting better slowly”......Page 274
How parents’ views of their neighbourhoods changed over 10 years......Page 276
The parents’ sense of direction......Page 277
Biggest marks of progress......Page 280
Low-income areas are part of the wider city: “It’s not just been forgotten”......Page 282
A long way still to go: “It just looks like a down-and-out area now”......Page 286
Summary and conclusions......Page 292
Family futures......Page 296
Index......Page 300