Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: The Government has celebrated its achievements in delivering a general decline in poverty. This decline is welcome, however, current policies appear to have made little impact on children most in need.
Ā Government child poverty target will miss the poorest children in Britain [LONDON, 5 December 2005] - In a new report Britainās Poorest Children Revisited Save the Children UK calls on the Government to adopt a strategy to address severe and persistent child poverty, on the day that the Chancellor Gordon Brown presents his pre-budget report. The Government has celebrated its achievements in delivering a general decline in child poverty. However, current policies appear to have made little impact on children most in need. Save the Childrenās previous report in 2003 Britainās Poorest Children, found that up to a million children were living in severe and long-term poverty. The new update shows there has been little or no improvement in the percentage of children living in severe poverty in England, Scotland and Wales. This means a family of two adults and two children living on about Ā£132 a week. Until the Government adopts a strategy for the poorest, it will fail to meet its target of ending child poverty by 2020. Save the Children Chief Executive Jasmine Whitbread said, " People find it difficult to accept there is poverty in Britain. But the reality is 1 in 10 children are experiencing severe poverty - that means going without a winter coat, a pair of shoes or a hot meal and with little hope of doing well at school. Such inequality spells bad news for our whole society. Without delay the Government must adopt a plan that recognises the needs of all children living in poverty, to ensure that the very poorest donāt slip through the net. Until the Government measures severe poverty it cannot target its policies to those most in need." Save the Children is calling on the Government to urgently adopt a strategy to address the needs of the poorest children. This should include the following key elements: ā¢ The Government must measure severe poverty. Only then can severe poverty be targeted with specific policies, and a specific indicator introduced to measure progress in tackling it. ā¢ The Government must do more to assist young families to escape poverty by ensuring that they are able to take up work. This means providing more help with the costs of childcare for families with young children. ā¢ The Government needs to adjust its policies for larger families, for example, by providing an addition for larger families in the Child Tax Credit system or set Child Benefit at an equal rate to all children, whether first born or not. ā¢ As part of a long-term strategy to eradicate childhood poverty by 2020, Save the Children believes the Government should establish an independent minimum income commission by the end of 2010 with responsibility for recommending a minimum income standard, below which no family should fall. The report found that groups most at risk of poverty were: families with young children; 16-19 year olds leaving the family home; large families; and families experiencing transitions into and out of work. The poorest families are unable to afford the necessities that most families take for granted. They are less likely to afford new clothes, replace worn out furniture, and eat meat or fish every other day. The poorest families find it very difficult to save more than Ā£8 a month. Two-thirds of children in long-term poverty had parents who were unable to save anything in a year. Ā