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Social justice and criminal justice go hand in hand. Not only does crime disproportionately affect poorer communities, but also those who have committed a crime are also far more likely to suffer from the causes of social breakdown such as drug abuse, poor literacy rates and worklessness.

Moreover, criminal sentences – although disproportionate to BME communities – provide a unique opportunity to intervene in the often-chaotic lives of those involved in criminal activity.

The UK continues to have some of the highest levels of family breakdown anywhere in the world. If you’re a poor child in the UK today, you’re overwhelmingly more likely to see your parents separate and your family break apart than the middle-class child down the road. 

By the age of five, almost half of children in our poorest areas have seen their families break apart compared to only 16 percent of children in middle-class homes. Your chances of experiencing family breakdown shouldn’t be defined by birth or circumstance, but too often they are.

Research conducted by the Early Intervention Foundation found that parental relationships are the primary influence on outcomes for young children. As a pathway to poverty, a family that breaks apart doubles the likelihood of a child growing up poor. This is why family breakdown should be an important part of any approach to tackling poverty and disadvantage.

We have continued to look carefully at how family breakdown entrenches poverty and limits the life chances of children growing up in our poorest communities. Research has found that the experience of family breakdown more than doubles the chances of being homeless (2.3 times), doubles the likelihood of being in trouble with the police or spending time in prison (2.0 times), and almost double the probability of educational underachievement (1.9 times).

Coronavirus has created a jobs crisis although headline unemployment has remained stable, it has been shielded by the furlough scheme. Many from the Afro Caribbean community have found themselves out of work as it inevitably winds down.

Welfare claims have more than doubled, soaring to over 6 million – the highest level since the financial crisis. Last year saw more redundancies than since records began, there are still far more people looking for work than available jobs, and older and younger workers amongst Afro Caribbean communities have been hit hardest where regional inequalities have increased.

Covid-19 has accelerated the pace of change in the UK labour market, throwing a spotlight on pre-existing weaknesses in our society. The lower-skilled and poorest are the least likely to be able to work from home and the most likely to be affected by job instability, increasing uncertainty and insecurity for Afro Caribbean families.

We aim for Happiness Matters to be at the forefront of the debate on restoring the dignity of work – the most vital route out of poverty – to those from the Afro Caribbean community as the government seeks to “build back better”.

Educational failure has had a devastating impact on the future of Afro Caribbean children. Lower qualifications depress earning potential and make unemployment more likely, while low basic skills are linked with poor home learning environments.

Disadvantaged pupils are particularly susceptible to educational failure. On average, they are 18 months behind when they take their GCSEs, and almost two-thirds do not achieve passes in English and maths GCSEs. A child in one of England’s poorest areas is 10 times more likely to go to a substandard school than one in its richest areas.

And for most, higher education remains a faint prospect, particularly in the top third of universities.

Afro Caribbean children are up to six times more likely to be excluded from school than their white peers. In reality, just 4.3 per cent of excluded pupils who attend alternative providers pass English and maths GCSEs, and almost half do not progress to a sustained destination. Meanwhile, 58 per cent of young adults in prison were permanently excluded from school.

But it is not just school-age pupils we must support. Millions of adults, too, need help to upskill and reskill. Around 6 million are not qualified to level 2 (GCSE level), and our jobs market is rapidly being remoulded by technology and the world economy.

All of these challenges together constitute a social injustice, but also an economic threat as we deprive our country of considerable and diverse talent.