One step forward, two steps back: children, young people and the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition
One step forward, two steps back: children, young people and the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition
This chapter examines the coalition government’s initial programme and subsequent policy developments with regard to children and young people. It highlights the following aspects of policy change and reform: reductions in cash support for children, young people and families; the reframing of child poverty in terms of the Conservative’s ‘five pathways to poverty’ thesis, the Liberal Democrats’ social mobility agenda and early intervention developments; and child protection and children’s social care reforms. It points out changes and continuities in social policies for children and young people under the coalition government. While the coalition introduced some new targeted support measures such as the Pupil Premium, early intervention funding, youth crime prevention measures and 2014 Children and Families Act reforms to promote social mobility and ‘protecting the vulnerable’, in many respects the coalition years were detrimental to children and young people, reducing their access to welfare state support and increasing socio-economic vulnerabilities.
Keywords: coalition government, conservative government, social policy, welfare state, children, young people
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