- GDP per capita is still lower than it was before the recession - Earnings and household incomes are far lower in real terms than they were in 2010 - Five million
people earn less than the Living Wage - George Osborne has failed to balance the Budget by 2015, meaning 40 %
of the work must be done in the next parliament - Absolute poverty increased by 300,000 between 2010/11 and 2012/13 - Almost two - thirds
of poor children fail to achieve the basics
of five GCSEs including English and maths - Children eligible for free school meals remain far less likely to be school - ready than their peers - Childcare affordability and availability means many parents
struggle to return to work - Poor children are less likely to be taught by the best teachers - The education system is currently going through widespread reform and the full effects will not be seen for some time - Long - term youth unemployment
of over 12 months is nearly double pre-recession levels at
around 200,000 - Pay
of young
people took a severe hit over the recession and is yet to recover - The number
of students from state schools and disadvantaged backgrounds going to Russell
Group universities has flatlined for a decade
But her youngest, Jeremiah, has always
struggled, and gets scared
around big
groups of people — a remnant, Risper suspects,
of times when he was bullied as a young child.