Have the two-child limit to welfare policy and cuts to contraceptive services in Britain impacted abortion rates and household poverty?
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Liverpool
Department Name: Public Health Policy & Systems
Abstract
Have the two-child limit to welfare policy and cuts to contraceptive services in Britain impacted abortion rates and household poverty?
Aim of this project
To find out how recent changes to the benefits system and contraception services have affected rates of abortion and household poverty.
Why this is important
Many unplanned pregnancies end in abortion. There are more than 200,000 abortions each year in England and Wales, with higher rates among people living in poorer areas. The Government's austerity programme, which started in 2010, aimed to save the Government money by cutting money available through welfare benefits and reducing money local authorities receive to provide public services. In 2017, they introduced a policy where third or subsequent children are not entitled to the "child element" of support in the benefit system (called the two-child limit). This is worth £2,780 per child per year. Recent evidence suggests that this policy is pushing some people to end wanted pregnancies, to avoid being pushed (further) into poverty. Funding for contraceptive services has also been cut, potentially increasing unplanned pregnancies and abortions. There is an urgent need to look at whether these policies are driving increases in abortions, or if larger families are being pushed into poverty by continuing subsequent pregnancies, and if some groups of people (e.g. single parents, younger parents, ethnic minority women) have been more affected than others. This will help the Government to design better policies to support individuals and families.
What we are planning to do
1. We will review information published on changes to child-related welfare support policies and abortion services. We will hold workshops with members of the public to understand how current social welfare policies impact on pregnancy decision making. Through this we will produce detailed policy summaries (e.g., eligibility criteria) and a map of how these policies may have affected individuals and families.
2. We will analyse national statistics and large-scale survey data to measure changes in abortion rates and poverty since the introduction of the two-child limit. We will compare abortion rates before and after the introduction of the two-child benefits cap, among women likely to be affected by the policy and those who are less likely to be affected.
3. We will look at how abortion rates have changed since changes to funding of contraception services, by analysing national statistics and data on spending on and use of contraceptive services. We will look at whether some groups of women have been more affected by these changes.
How we will involve members of the public and other stakeholders
We will hold workshops with members of the public to develop our research plans, to review the policy changes and to generate recommendations for the Government, and we will invite people to become public advisors on this project. We will also hold separate workshops with other stakeholders including abortion healthcare providers, charity and advocacy organisations, MPs, researchers, and representatives from local government.
How we will support people involved in this project
We will offer training in understanding and communicating research evidence to support individuals with lived experience to contribute to national inquiries and debates about policies that affect women and children.
How we will share our findings
With the members of the public involved with this project, we will write one-page summaries of our results. We will submit these to parliamentary committees that oversee these policies and share them with abortion providers and anti-poverty advocates. We will produce and share infographics through trusted organisations on social media and put clear summaries on the University of Liverpool website and other online forums. We will publish our findings in research journals and make our data available for other researchers.
Aim of this project
To find out how recent changes to the benefits system and contraception services have affected rates of abortion and household poverty.
Why this is important
Many unplanned pregnancies end in abortion. There are more than 200,000 abortions each year in England and Wales, with higher rates among people living in poorer areas. The Government's austerity programme, which started in 2010, aimed to save the Government money by cutting money available through welfare benefits and reducing money local authorities receive to provide public services. In 2017, they introduced a policy where third or subsequent children are not entitled to the "child element" of support in the benefit system (called the two-child limit). This is worth £2,780 per child per year. Recent evidence suggests that this policy is pushing some people to end wanted pregnancies, to avoid being pushed (further) into poverty. Funding for contraceptive services has also been cut, potentially increasing unplanned pregnancies and abortions. There is an urgent need to look at whether these policies are driving increases in abortions, or if larger families are being pushed into poverty by continuing subsequent pregnancies, and if some groups of people (e.g. single parents, younger parents, ethnic minority women) have been more affected than others. This will help the Government to design better policies to support individuals and families.
What we are planning to do
1. We will review information published on changes to child-related welfare support policies and abortion services. We will hold workshops with members of the public to understand how current social welfare policies impact on pregnancy decision making. Through this we will produce detailed policy summaries (e.g., eligibility criteria) and a map of how these policies may have affected individuals and families.
2. We will analyse national statistics and large-scale survey data to measure changes in abortion rates and poverty since the introduction of the two-child limit. We will compare abortion rates before and after the introduction of the two-child benefits cap, among women likely to be affected by the policy and those who are less likely to be affected.
3. We will look at how abortion rates have changed since changes to funding of contraception services, by analysing national statistics and data on spending on and use of contraceptive services. We will look at whether some groups of women have been more affected by these changes.
How we will involve members of the public and other stakeholders
We will hold workshops with members of the public to develop our research plans, to review the policy changes and to generate recommendations for the Government, and we will invite people to become public advisors on this project. We will also hold separate workshops with other stakeholders including abortion healthcare providers, charity and advocacy organisations, MPs, researchers, and representatives from local government.
How we will support people involved in this project
We will offer training in understanding and communicating research evidence to support individuals with lived experience to contribute to national inquiries and debates about policies that affect women and children.
How we will share our findings
With the members of the public involved with this project, we will write one-page summaries of our results. We will submit these to parliamentary committees that oversee these policies and share them with abortion providers and anti-poverty advocates. We will produce and share infographics through trusted organisations on social media and put clear summaries on the University of Liverpool website and other online forums. We will publish our findings in research journals and make our data available for other researchers.
Organisations
| Title | Wel-fair creative visual minutes |
| Description | The launch of the Wel-fair collective (see engagement activities for further details) included visual minutes from those attending the launch event. This represents the first creative piece of the collective which outlines its plans and objectives and what the collective wants for the future for academics, health professionals, third sector organisations, artists and other creatives involved or experiencing the welfare system in order to 1. find others working in this space; 2. share best practices and resources and 3. develop outputs that will support and respond to inquiries and other policy relevant outputs to promote positive social impact, as a group. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | Contributing to Wel-fair collective website (in progress) and will be placed physically at knowledge exchange and impact events. |
| Description | Institute of Population Health Research and Knowledge Exchange Budget |
| Amount | £4,970 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Liverpool |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2023 |
| End | 07/2023 |
| Description | Abortion paper presentation at the Max Planck Institute |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of complete draft work to colleagues in the evolutionary anthropology group at the Max Planck Institute, Leipzig, which supported our thinking on the mechanisms behind the findings for the paper which came out of this work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Abortion paper presentation to the Health Inequalities Policy Research Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of complete draft work to colleagues in the Health Inequalities group at the University of Liverpool. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Chaired a panel/workshop at Liverpool's Access to Advice Network Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Organised by the Law and Social Justice Department, this was a national event that included talks from Michael Marmot, and local MPs as well as many different advice organisations, both local to Liverpool and national. My workshop focused on the link between advice services and health outcomes. I introduced my various research projects exploring the impact of poverty and changes to the welfare system and health outcomes before introducing panel discussions from various researchers, Liverpool City Council representatives and representations from Policy in Practice, an organisation that contributes a lot to the welfare impact policy literature. I received feedback on work and discussions sparked ideas and plans for future work as well as identifying people interested in participating or finding out more or contributing to other aspects of research (i.e. being part of the Wel-fair collective - see other event on Wel-fair collective launch) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Meeting of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Abortion Taskforce |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | RG updated the RCOG's Abortion Taskforce on the successful funding of the project, and shared the project plan, receiving excellent engagement from the panel and offers of future engagement. The RCOG abortion taskforce advises College officers and the policy and public affairs department on issues related to abortion. It includes members of all key stakeholders, including officers of RCOG, FSRH and BSACP, and invited representatives from RCM, RCN, DHSC, NIO, BMA, GMC, NHSE, CQC, providers and commissioners. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Meeting with MP/Chair of Health In All Policies All Party Parliamentary Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | AP held a meeting and discussion with MP/Chair of Health In All Policies All Party Parliamentary Group to discuss the overall project and the policy analysis of welfare changes affecting children/families with children and potential impacts on abortion rates/distribution of impacts across population groups, initial findings of the policy analysis, sources of further evidence, and potential audiences and approaches to dissemination of findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Presentation as part of Maternity Action Webinar event: Pregnant women, new parents and the cost-of-living crisis in Cheshire and Merseyside |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Introduced the social determinants of health/mental health. The impact of poverty on children's and mothers health and health inequalities and the growing concern of impact of several changes to the welfare system. I focused on the introduction of Universal Credit how it has been implemented and the two-child limit. Sparked questions and discussions afterwards and have received emails to discuss further with third sector organisations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Untangling consequences of the two-child limit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited Seminar talk at University of Glasgow - presented whole project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Webinar talk: Unseen consequences? Unravelling the effect of welfare changes on child and maternal health |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was part of the Maternal and Child Health Network lunchtime webinar series, which showcases evaluations of policy in the early years and explores issues around using administrative data. This includes work in progress as well as completed projects from across the 4 UK nations. Presentations focus on routine and administrative data or secondary analysis of existing data. It is open to anyone with an interest in child and maternal health including academics, policymakers, administrative data controllers, third sector organisations. My session focused on the challenges of exploring specific welfare changes for vulnerable groups in the UKHLS- from defining exposed groups and comparison groups, and how to overcome these - to most appropriate methodologies. Followed by discussions |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://matchnet.sphsu.gla.ac.uk/events/ |
| Description | Wel-fair collective launch event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This initial launch event shared projects ongoing that explore aspects of the welfare system and their health impact. The focus of the event was how to develop a shared vision for a collective of academics, artists, health professionals, third sector organisations and business and people that are living/working with social security and health impacts in the UK. The event explored how the collective should work, who needs to be connected and how and ways of moving the initiative forward. Artwork of the event was created and plans to develop a website as a space to share resources/research/creative outputs were planned and discussions were had around how to reach a wider group of people and develop impactful outputs at a policy changing level. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |