We spend £9 billion a year on managing troubled families; £46 billion a year on family breakdown and £29 billion a year on tackling child poverty yet we could save £32,000 per family a year if crisis was averted.
MORE than half of people in the South West think times are harder than 20 years ago.
The YouGov poll of more than 2,000 people – commissioned by charity 4Children to coincide with the publication of its Manifesto: Making Britain Great for Children and Families – found that 59 percent of people thought life was harder now than in the early 1990s, while 61 percent felt that public services should be aimed at families.
However, only one in ten didn’t think their neighbourhood was a good place to bring up children and four out of ten people feared today’s children would have a worse life than theirs.
Many people told pollsters they felt a range of public services were not family friendly, with a mere two percent saying job centres were family friendly. Just over a quarter judged childcare services as family friendly, while GP practices saw just 38 percent feel it was family friendly.
The charity, which runs Sure Start Children’s Centres as well as family and youth services across Britain, said it is throwing down the gauntlet to decision makers to help reshape Britain’s public services, spaces and workplaces in response to the dramatic changes to modern family life.
The charity is calling for national and local leaders to sign up to a Family Commitment which would include:
• A Family Test across national and local government to ensure policies are family friendly
• A major overhaul of support for vulnerable families, including local, joined-up early help
• A commitment to family friendly planning and public spaces
• A major house building programme of affordable and social housing
• Local, joined up help in every community through Children and Family Centres and Hubs
for children 0–19 and their families
• A comprehensive universal childcare guarantee from 0-14
• Part-time and flexible
working to become the norm including flexible maternity and
paternity leave
Anne Longfield OBE, chief executive of 4Children said: “Too many children and families are struggling in the South West today with limited potential and life chances as a result.
“It’s clear from what people tell us that this country’s systems and approaches are not working for many families.
“We spend £9 billion a year on managing troubled families; £46 billion a year on family breakdown and £29 billion a year on tackling child poverty yet we could save £32,000 per family a year if crisis was averted.
“This is not just about more money, however, but about a revolution in how we run services and structures to find smarter ways to support family life. We need services that understand the speed and complexity of modern life and join together locally to offer families the support they need.
“We also need to change the current costly approach of leaving troubles to deteriorate into problems. We need a new approach, which steps into support families early; with a ‘stitch in time’ culture that focuses on avoiding problems arising rather than on spending large amounts of money to patch up problems after they’ve occurred.
“However, these changes need to be seen as just the foundation for a complete rethink of how the country approaches supporting family life, which recognises the amazing power and worth of having flourishing families and the importance of helping those families who are just coping or struggling to flourish. If this country is going to compete globally in the future, we need to ensure we are all helping to make the most of the biggest asset the country has – children and their families.”
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