First posted on March 27th, 2011 on the goodenoughcaring home page at http://www.goodenoughcaring.com/Home.aspx?cpid=1 where many other many articles relating to children, childhood, child development, parenting, families, foster care and residential child care can be found.
In London on Saturday, March 26th, reportedly between 100,000 and 500,000 people - among them child care workers, teachers and health workers - protested legitimately and peacefully about the coalition government's decision to cut drastically our health, education, social and other community services. The British media, including the BBC, chose to focus most of its reporting of the event on a small breakaway group which - though it may have had a valid point to make - protested in a more sensational and destructive way.
The overwhelming response to the TUC's call for a protest march came in a week when the coalition government's budget offered little sustenance to those families with children who struggle on a low income. An analysis of the budget carried out by Tom Horton, the research director of the Fabian Society, and Howard Reed, the director of Landmark Economics, shows that many single-earner families with children and families claiming help with child care are set to lose from tax-and-benefit reform. The report claims that "despite government rhetoric about 'lifting the poorest out of tax' many low income families are set to become bigger contributors to the Exchequer." According to the report these losses occur because for many families, the rise in Value Added Tax and the cuts in tax credits outweigh any gains from the budget's proposed cuts in income tax and national insurance.
The cutting of services and the increased financial burdens to less well off families with children impacts upon what the parents in these families can give to their children. Moreover this has an emotional impact. Parents who are struggling financially often become anxious parents and anxious parents make children anxious. Attention should be drawn to this and that is exactly what the peaceful protesters in London were trying to do. It is therefore tragic as well as ironic that at a time when the coalition government backed by the media is defending the rights of peaceful protesters in other countries, our media deflects attention away from legitimate protests about government policies and financial restrictions which not only cut essential resources for our children and young people but also challenge their basic rights.
Note
The full text of the Fabian Society Report can be found at :
http://www.fabians.org.uk/images/FabianSociety-LandmanEconomics_post-Budget_report.pdf
In London on Saturday, March 26th, reportedly between 100,000 and 500,000 people - among them child care workers, teachers and health workers - protested legitimately and peacefully about the coalition government's decision to cut drastically our health, education, social and other community services. The British media, including the BBC, chose to focus most of its reporting of the event on a small breakaway group which - though it may have had a valid point to make - protested in a more sensational and destructive way.
The overwhelming response to the TUC's call for a protest march came in a week when the coalition government's budget offered little sustenance to those families with children who struggle on a low income. An analysis of the budget carried out by Tom Horton, the research director of the Fabian Society, and Howard Reed, the director of Landmark Economics, shows that many single-earner families with children and families claiming help with child care are set to lose from tax-and-benefit reform. The report claims that "despite government rhetoric about 'lifting the poorest out of tax' many low income families are set to become bigger contributors to the Exchequer." According to the report these losses occur because for many families, the rise in Value Added Tax and the cuts in tax credits outweigh any gains from the budget's proposed cuts in income tax and national insurance.
The cutting of services and the increased financial burdens to less well off families with children impacts upon what the parents in these families can give to their children. Moreover this has an emotional impact. Parents who are struggling financially often become anxious parents and anxious parents make children anxious. Attention should be drawn to this and that is exactly what the peaceful protesters in London were trying to do. It is therefore tragic as well as ironic that at a time when the coalition government backed by the media is defending the rights of peaceful protesters in other countries, our media deflects attention away from legitimate protests about government policies and financial restrictions which not only cut essential resources for our children and young people but also challenge their basic rights.
Note
The full text of the Fabian Society Report can be found at :
http://www.fabians.org.uk/images/FabianSociety-LandmanEconomics_post-Budget_report.pdf
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