Recent polls have led some to talk of hung parliaments and the possibility of the Liberal Democrats entering into government with either Labour or the Conservatives. Before we get carried away by thoughts of ‘progressive movements’ or ‘coalitions of the Left’, we ought to take a long, hard look at some of the Lib Dems’ key policy commitments.
The Labour government’s “baby bond”, Child Trust Fund (CTF) is one key policy that the Lib Dems constantly state they would abolish. The Lib Dems have constantly criticised the policy, disparaging it as a gimmick and as a waste of money. They want to abolish the CTF and divert the money to other policies (usually throwing in a vague comment about early years intervention, or university tuition fees). This narrow approach ignores the enormous benefits of asset-based welfare and summarily dismisses a wide range of evidence which shows the beneficial role assets like the CTF can play as young people move into adulthood.
Life chances are assigned, fixed and integrated at an early age unless something significant happens to break the pattern. A young person who perceives limited life chances will develop a pessimistic expectation of the future, causing a negative impact on behaviour: hence the need for early years intervention. An asset, such as the CTF, which is held by the child all their life, works with early years intervention as young people realise that their own efforts, combined with an asset, opens up opportunities in the future which may otherwise be denied them. It develops positive expectations of the future – leading to young people avoiding future-threatening temptations and developing positive behaviour.
This becomes even more important as contemporary transitions from youth to adulthood have become more complex and delayed leading to greater dependence on parents – especially for the most disadvantaged. This situation compromises young people’s freedom and constrains choices they would otherwise make about themselves, for themselves. Parental financial resources can support a young person, or they can be removed, depending on whether the decision and actions of a young person match their parents’ expectations. This hinders emancipation of young people and their own choices – over education, training, employment, or lifestyle such as sexuality or unwillingness for an arranged marriage. Young peoples decisions which contradict parents’ views can lead to a removal of support and even homelessness.
Here is where assets come into play. The Social Exclusion Unit report, Breaking the Cycle, shows that between the ages of 16 and 25, decisions made by young people shape their working life. The CTF not only works with early intervention to expand opportunities but provides resources directly to young people to make their own decisions and help stabilise their own development into adulthood. Quite wrongly, the Lib Dems ignore this when they argue for the abolition of the CTF.
The Lib Dems abolition of the CTF is often linked to university fees and they often claim that the CTF would be useless when young people face the prospect of tuition fees. This ignores two important points. Firstly, millions of young people who will benefit from the CTF will not choose to go to university and will use their CTF to support their future in different ways. Secondly, the CTF can of course be invested into education by university students in a number of ways: in accommodation, in course material, by contributing towards living expenses or even by being put into a savings account. The CTF therefore actually increases support for young people who choose to go to university – and allows young people to grow up with a belief that going to university is possible for them.
The Fund supports young people’s independence and freedom; it works with the grain of early years intervention to expand equality of opportunity; and it enhances future prospects – especially for the most deprived young people. Labour needs to make the case in support of the CTF against the Lib Dems’ misguided and regressive claims.