Researchers from the University of Birmingham are seeking your help in recruiting families to take part in a major new study on intergenerational relations.  If you were born between 1945-1965 and have an adult child aged 18 or above, and a parent of any age in good health you are eligible to take part in an exciting new academic study being conducted by the University of Birmingham.

The study, ‘Giving and Receiving Financial Support Within Families in the 21st Century’, aims to gain a better understanding of the way families support each other financially across generations. These issues are particularly relevant given the current economic climate and the pressures on family finances. At least one person from each of the three generations in the same family will be interviewed separately (i.e. a young person; their parent(s) and grandparent(s) generation) for about an hour. This type of study including three generations of the same family is very rare. As a thank-you for taking part each person will receive £20. We are particularly keen to interview families from a range of income levels, ethnic backgrounds and housing tenures.

If you would like to take part or find out more, please get in touch with Ricky Joseph at CHASM

For more information download information here: Participant Information WS1 (2)

Ricky Joseph

University of Birmingham

Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management

0121 414 7233

r.joseph@bham.ac.uk

Acknowledgement: poptech

We live in interesting times, with far-reaching tangible impacts on our communities. Many of them struggle to meet their basic needs even in the best of times. Not only are we facing the continued threats to our wellbeing by the on going affects of the recession, the impact of funding cuts on services, now there is the Welfare Reform to add to the burden.

More people need a social safety net to battle the daily storm that faces them. The Making Birmingham an inclusive city white paper outlines the need for change and to build community resilience to help bridge the gap between the least and most affluent of the city, by supporting the most vulnerable families and individuals to greater wellbeing.

During this time of austerity, public bodies, businesses and community-based organisations need to adopt policies that will help communities, families and individuals to build resilience, particularly those suffering from the worst effects of the recession and public sector cuts.

Ten Ideas for Change: Local growth and resilience is a recent online article giving ideas to rally local resources and expertise around targeted action that will help mitigate further inequality and exclusion:

1. Develop community-supported industries

2. Create a national fund of funds

3. Localise for growth

4. Launch a neighbourhood health watch

5. Create the conditions for the city as ‘urban workshop’ or cultural hub

6. Identify the challenges

7. Develop and partner with financial co-operatives

8. Assess and develop the strength of local networks

9. Embed a resilience approach into all council activity

10. Knit local social fabric back together

Are you already doing this? Or do you have any ideas that can help build the city’s resilience?

Please contact us by email to fairbrum@birmingham.gov.uk, visit our blog atwww.fairbrum.wordpress.com or join the conversation on Twitter @fairbrum #fairbrum

Magnus Von Koeller

As most of us in the public and voluntary sector know, there are soon to be huge changes in the benefit system which will affect people across the board,  particularly those who are already experiencing hardship due to being out of work or in low paid employment, and those who are disabled.

60% of working families, 86 per cent families with children (and 95 per cent lone parent families) will be worse off, compared with 17 per cent of families without children.   Disabled people classed as unfit to work will also have their benefits capped for the next three years

Poorer people, who are the ones that will be disproportionately hit by the changes, will have to learn to survive on less.

The bottom line is there is little we can do about the changes, but there is help out there for people who don’t know what the changes mean for them, or need help in budgeting.  Gateway Family Services already provides support staff who go into people’s homes, and they are training them to be in a position to support people with practical help and also in signposting them to the best organisation to approach for their needs.

They are also a partner in the Advice Transition Fund (led by CAB) looking at co-ordination of advice in the city.

As Katherine Hewitt from Gateway states ‘We realise this is just the start of a long term plan, it isn’t something that can be fixed quickly and will take a range of approaches, but we believe by starting now, while there is still time to plan, we will help the people we know to at least prepare’.