• Persistent poverty in Northern Ireland ‘twice that of Great Britain’, November 12, 2009, Belfast Telegraph: “The level of persistent poverty in Northern Ireland children is more than double that of those in Great Britain, it was revealed today. High levels of unemployment, disability, lower wages and poor quality part-time jobs were to blame, a study for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) discovered. A fifth of families in Northern Ireland experienced persistent poverty compared to a tenth in Great Britain in recent years. Julia Unwin, chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, called for action by the Assembly…”
• NI has worst child poverty in UK, November 12, 2009, BBC News: “The level of persistent child poverty in Northern Ireland is more than double that of the rest of the United Kingdom, new research has found. The study, by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, found that high levels of unemployment, disability and poor quality part-time jobs were to blame. The charity defines poverty as the experience of a family with an income which is 60% below the UK average…”

Children slipping back into poverty, By Rachel Williams, November 3, 2009, The Guardian: “Children in affluent areas are sinking into poverty after a third of the gains made over the last eleven years in getting families into work were wiped out in just 12 months, a new study warned today. One in five - two million - British children now live in households where neither parent has a job, a rise of 170,000 since 2008, the Campaign to End Child Poverty said. If unemployment continued to rise as forecast, the number could return to levels of a decade ago, when Tony Blair made his flagship pledge to eradicate child poverty by 2020 and halve it by 2010. The number of children in jobless households, two thirds of whom face poverty, had fallen by a half a million - nearly a quarter - between 1997 and 2008…”

• Fuel poverty ‘continues to rise’, October 21, 2009, BBC News: “Up to 4.6 million households in England could be in fuel poverty in 2009, new figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change show. The government has vowed to end fuel poverty in England by 2016. Fuel poverty is defined as those who spend more than 10% of their household income on heating their homes. The projection comes within data that reveals the number fuel-poor households in the UK rose from 3.5 million in 2006 to four million in 2007. The data, based on the latest figures for England and Scotland along with extrapolated estimates for Wales and Northern Ireland, suggest that 16% of all UK households were in fuel poverty in 2007…”
• Households in fuel poverty to hit 4.6m, By Sandra Haurant, October 21, 2009, The Guardian: “The number of households living in fuel poverty in England is likely to reach 4.6 million by the end of the year, figures published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) showed today. A household is said to be “fuel poor” when more than 10% of its income is spent on fuel to maintain an “adequate level of warmth” - usually 21C in the living area and 18C in other rooms. The latest figures show that 3.25 million households in the UK lived in fuel poverty in 2007, an increase of half a million compared with 2006. In England 2.8 million households were fuel poor in 2007, up from 2.4 million in 2006. The DECC said the jump in fuel poverty was caused by an increase in fuel prices, which continued to soar in 2008…”

Two million children now in homes with no working adult, By Katie Allen, August 26, 2009, The Guardian: “Almost 2 million children now live in households where there is no working adult, according to official figures released today that lay bare the social effects of the recession. The Office for National Statistics said the number of children in workless households rose by 170,000 to 1.9 million in April-June of this year, compared with the same period last year. One in six children now live in homes where there is no adult in employment. In addition, the number of children in homes with both working and workless adults over 16, also rose, up 45,000 to 3.6 million. That number includes students, retired people or those looking after the home…”

• Benefits system has failed poor pensioners, say MPs, By Phillip Inman, July 30, 2009, The Guardian: “Means-tested benefits have failed to lift more than two million pensioners out of poverty, according to a group of MPs who are calling on the government to make a bigger effort to increase the incomes of poor people in retirement. A further one million pensioners live on less than 50% of average incomes, the report found, highlighting the increasing divide between those over-65s without private savings and workers in generous final salary pensions who can enjoy incomes equal to 80% to 90% of their pre-retirement salary when state benefits are included…”
• Pensioner poverty ‘unacceptable’, July 29, 2009, BBC News: “It is “unacceptable” that two million pensioners in the UK are still living in poverty, a group of MPs says. The Work and Pensions Committee says the figure is a third lower than it was in 1997, but wants ministers to commit to ending pensioner poverty altogether. It is also calling for the benefits system to be simplified for older people and the compulsory retirement age of 65 to be scrapped…”

• Thousands ‘facing fuel poverty’, July 12, 2009, BBC News: Rising unemployment and higher energy prices are likely to push hundreds of thousands more homes into fuel poverty, a key government advisory body says. The Fuel Poverty Advisory Group (FPAG) says about 4m households in England are already in fuel poverty, spending more than 10% of their income on energy…”
• Damning report condemns lack of action on fuel poverty, By Lauren Thompson, July 13, 2009, The Times: “Rising unemployment, high energy bills and the cost of “green” measures could push hundreds of thousands more households into fuel poverty, a Government advisor warned today. There are already 4 million households in fuel poverty – where one tenth or more of income goes on gas and electricity bills – compared with 1.2 million in 2004. Almost half of fuel-poor households are pensioners…”

• Lone parents to be offered better pay incentives to work, By Patrick Wintour, July 5, 2009, The Guardian: “Unemployed lone parents are to be offered increased pay incentives to work in a move which softens some of the most controversial measures in the welfare reform bill. It is one of a number of measures being taken by the work and pensions secretary, Yvette Cooper, that subtly change the emphasis pursued by her predecessor, James Purnell. She insists her changes are designed to protect the family. The government’s welfare reforms have created controversy, since they require lone parents with children as young as three to prepare for the world of work during the recession, or lose benefits…”
• Cutting benefits of single parents will increase number of kids in poverty, By Clinton Manning, July 8, 2009, The Daily Mirror: “Slashing benefits of single parents who don’t look for work will increase child poverty and family hardship, a report has warned.  Gingerbread, the charity that represents lone parents, wants ministers to abandon the “big stick” of benefit sanctions proposed in the Welfare Reform Bill…”

• Costs hit low income households, By Steve Schifferes, June 30, 2009, BBC News: “The cost of living for those living on minimum household budgets is rising faster than inflation, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has calculated.  It says that the costs for a single household on its low-income budget were up 5.3% this year, with rises of 5% for pensioners and couples with children…”
• Rising cost of basic essentials ‘hitting poorest hardest,’ By Mary O’Hara, July 1, 2009, The Guardian: “The rising cost of everyday staples such as food and public transport during the recession has hit the poorest hardest, a study reveals today.  The latest Minimum Income Standard (MIS) report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) concludes that the basic amount an individual needs to earn to have an acceptable standard of living has gone up by twice the rate of inflation, leaving more people struggling…”