This paper reviews the achievements of the Labour Government’seducation policy between 1997 and 2001. Tony Blair claimed that hisGovernment would make education a priority. The first part of thepaper reviews the scale of education spending in relation to theeconomy at large and within the...

In order to assess the roles of schooling and educational qualifications inthe emergence of adult social exclusion, a series of detailed regressionmodels were explored separately for men and women for each of a widerange of indicators of adult disadvantage at both ages 23 and 33,...

This paper discusses the contribution made by American social scientists to thestudy of poverty in the past twenty five years. It has three parts. The firstconcentrates on the measurement of poverty and the fact that the US povertyline remained unchanged in that period despite its increasingly...

Childhood poverty and early parenthood are both high on the politicalagenda. The key new issue addressed in this research is the relativeimportance of childhood poverty and of early motherhood as correlatesof outcomes later in life. How far are the ‘effects’ of early motherhood onlater...

Area-based polices have become a significant part of the new LabourGovernment’s approach to tackling social exclusion. This paper reviewsthe long-running debate about whether area-based policies can make asignificant impact on poverty and social exclusion. There is a strongtradition of...

This study uses data from the National Child Development Studyto examine how experiences during childhood are linked to a widevariety of outcomes in adulthood. A cluster of childhoodexperiences (poverty, family disruption, and contact with thepolice) are given specific attention. One of the main...

In the past decade there has been a minor revolution in how local services are funded.Those delivering the services now have their own budgets. How these budgets arecalculated – how Whitehall pulls the purse strings – are now central issues in social policy.In a new book, CASE members...

Using longitudinal data, John Hobcraft has examined how far childhood experience andparental factors are linked to a wide range of outcomes in adulthood. Specific attention wasgiven to childhood poverty, family disruption, and contact with the police.The four (of 12) most powerful and consistent...

Reform of the welfare state is at the centre of political debate. In a new book, CASEmembers analyse changes in social policies over the last twenty-five years, trends inspending, outcomes of policies, and impacts on institutions and families.The stereotypes of both left and right are wrong....

At the end of 2008, the Government set in motion a Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England chaired by Sir Michael Marmot. It is to report in December 2009. As part of its work, it set up various Task Groups to collect evidence and suggest policy options. The Task Group on Social...