A review of the Social Fund is needed to replace the loan system with one based on grants, a new report recommends.
Recipients of loans say repayments are too high and force them to live on less income, according to the study for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
The average weekly repayment rate was 8 per cent of income, but families with children were likely to borrow and repay more.
The Social Fund has three elements: community care grants, which are non-repayable and help people to live independently; repayable, interest-free budgeting loans to cover major expenses, such as furniture, incurred by benefit recipients; and repayable, interest-free crisis loans for people in emergencies.
Recipients favoured grants instead of loans because they would not need to be repaid. However, they preferred Social Fund loans to other credit options.
Child Poverty Action Group chief executive Kate Green said the system left families “struggling to repay loans from low weekly incomes”.
‘Replace loans with grant-based system’
June 8, 2006 in Adults
More from Community Care
Related articles:
Job of the week
Featured jobs
Employer Zone
‘Solutions can’t be scripted here – you have to be creative’
Putting a team around the social worker to make a difference to families
How working in residential care enables staff to build one-on-one relationships with young people
‘We will always challenge ourselves to transform our services to improve outcomes for children and families’
‘It’s our job is to observe the child, find their voice and be their advocate’
Employer zone – showcasing a selection of the sector’s top recruiters
Community Care Inform
Latest stories
‘Why only specialist child protection teams will tackle the annual child death toll’
Frontline’s social work qualification rates lower than other fast-track schemes’, data shows
‘Considerable investment’ in social work helps twice inadequate-rated council rise to ‘good’
Cafcass ‘in serious jeopardy’ regarding social work staffing due to pay constraints
Comments are closed.