Publications library

This is a joint briefing from the Children's Society, Action for Children, Barnardo's and the National Children's Bureau (NCB) for the parliamentary debate on children's social services in England on Monday 7th January 2019.

Joint submission from the The Children’s Society and the Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs Council to the Work and Pensions Select Committee's Welfare Safety Net inquiry. This draws on findings from “Not Making Ends Meet”, our joint research project into the adequacy of crisis support provision in England. It covers why some households are falling into poverty and deprivation, why our welfare safety net is not working well enough to prevent people falling into deprivation and how it could be improved.

The stories in this book give a fascinating insight into what life is like for young people today. It’s crucial that both as individuals and as a society, we do all we can to understand more about the issues that children are facing. Because only by listening to what young people tell us can we provide them with the best possible support, and act to change their lives.

Our Seriously Awkward campaign fights to improve life for vulnerable 16 and 17 year olds. At this age older teenagers are not yet adults, but they’re not treated as children either. They often aren’t listened to, so we don’t hear their stories. Our creative writing competition in partnership with Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House, invited aspiring authors to pen stories about this awkward age.

The winning trio of stories chosen by our panel of agents, authors and more are presented in this book. We hope you enjoy reading them, and that they help you to think about how seriously awkward life can be at 16 and 17.

A briefing for MPs and Peers setting out how the Budget 2018 should be used as an opportunity to improve the application of the Pupil Premium and the 16-19 bursary, to better meet the needs of children in need at school and in college.