DO WRONGS MAKE A RIOT?
SUPPORTING STRUGGLING FAMILIES Dr Elizabeth Young, Director of Research and Policy, Home-Start UK
WHETHER WE REFER to society as ‘broken’ or ‘challenged’ is at one level a question of semantics, and the phrase ‘broken society’ resonates in different ways with different people. Working to support families at Home-Start, we know there are families who are vulnerable to the repercussions of a depressed economy and the accompanying reduced public services. Across the UK demand for our services has increased by up to 75 per cent over the last few months. Thirteen per cent of the families in our statistics needed support to manage their budgets, and 7.5 per cent of the families we supported last year have children on child protection plans. These figures represent a real challenge, every day, for the families behind the figures. Family support organisations like Home-Start have the experience and skills to manage these challenges. Across the UK thousands of Home- Start volunteers visit families at home each week, supporting parents who are struggling to cope. What we will not have is the capacity to continue to help if demand continues to increase. These are very real current challenges, but are not necessarily reflective of families causing a broken society. The term ‘broken society’ alludes to concepts
connected with values, social capital and connectivity. These things are difficult to express and measure. So, for example, families come to Home-Start because they are socially isolated (55 per cent of the families we support). Is this a marker for a broken society?
Home-Start works to build the strengths of these families and this starts in their own homes. Allowing a volunteer to visit regularly in your home is itself an act of trust. It creates the basis for respectful relationships. From this basis families can be supported to change their behaviours, develop their skills and build their confidence as parents. So, from a position of trust between the
volunteer and the family – perhaps the antithesis of a broken society – the family are enabled to become more able to cope, to feel able to develop and then trust their tuned parenting skills and engage in their wider community. Furthermore it is a commitment of Home-Start to enable parents to enjoy being parents. Trust in oneself and others, confidence, engagement, enjoyment – these are all aspects of a strong family and these strengths resonate beyond the home and contribute to a more coherent society. Volunteers have been coming forward to help in increasing numbers over the last twelve months. We see this as evidence of a connectivity in society and of a desire to help that is strong – and that is seen across the full spectrum of communities in the UK. It is evidence that all of society is not broken. Sixteen thousand volunteers support Home-Start families every year; the total helping all charities is immense. Financial hardship and uncertainty exacerbates the vulnerabilities of already fragile families. However, there are positive outcomes available for vulnerable families if support can be provided. Perhaps what needs to be fixed is the economy so that families facing challenges can continue to be supported. n
12 SOCIETY NOW AUTUMN 2011
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