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Child poverty increase 'a moral disgrace'
Last updated at 00:07am on 28.03.07
Statistics showed that 2.8 million children were living below the relative poverty line in 2005/06
The number of children in the UK living in relative poverty increased by 100,000 last year - a "moral disgrace" that leaves the Government's policy objectives "in tatters", campaigners said.
Official statistics showed the number of children living below the poverty threshold rose for the first time in almost a decade in 2005/06, up to 2.8 million from 2.7 million.
This figure increases to 3.8 million when housing costs - such as rent or mortgage payments - were factored in, an increase of 200,000 from comparable figures for the previous year.
Campaigners seized on the data as evidence that the Government was now destined to miss its key targets of halving child poverty by 2010 and eradicating it by 2020.
Save the Children called for urgent action and massive investment to get policy back on track, while political opponents called for a completely new approach to tackle the problem of poverty.
Since the benchmark year of 1998/99, 600,000 children have been lifted out of relative poverty - defined as households on less than 60 per cent of average income.
But to adhere to an expressed goal of halving child poverty by 2010, ministers will now have to help an additional 1.1 million children above the relative poverty line by the end of the decade, with the figure rising to 1.6 million after housing costs.
Colette Marshall, UK director of Save the Children, said: "The child poverty target, supposedly one of the Government's chief priorities, is now in serious jeopardy.
"If the Government is genuinely committed to the target of halving child poverty by 2010 then urgent action and investment is needed, not just the piecemeal measures that have been announced so far."
Barnardo's chief executive Martin Narey called today's figures a "moral disgrace". Political opponents seized on the statistics as evidence of Government failure.
Shadow chancellor George Osborne called for a completely new approach to tackling poverty, based on social responsibility.
"Gordon Brown's approach of simply throwing money at the problem has failed," he added.
The Liberal Democrats' work and pensions spokesman David Laws said: "These figures are dreadful for the Government - with child poverty rising to almost a third of all UK children.
"Poverty in Britain is increasing again, and social mobility seems to have been falling.
"The Government's ambition to cut child poverty now looks in tatters - with Labour likely to miss its 2010 child poverty target by over 1 million children."
The Government unveiled new measures to get its child poverty policy back on track following today's disappointing figures.
A "refocusing" of £150 million would see the New Deal for Lone Parents scheme extended, while a New Deal for Families will be piloted.
The Government also pledged a widening of the in-work credit scheme while expressing initial support for proposals that would require lone parents to look for work once their youngest child reaches 12.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions John Hutton said: "The measures announced in the Budget and built on today will help take hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty in the years ahead and emphasise the importance of work as a sustainable route out of poverty for families in Britain."
Reader views (6)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
When police are called to domestic disputes the first thing they say is, are the children in the property if the anwser is yes
you have a social worker call on you ,call on you call on you, untill they can snatch your children legaly
the child is then moved onto an agency
who in turn farms the child out to a carer for about £400 per week
the carer in turn with two or three children snatched off low intelegent mothers who are living off the state on council estates
are buying houses for them selfs on the Knowledge that there will all ways be this flow of children in Britain from the under classes
to have any part in this flow of slavery of children
Police Social Services County Councils and
This labour government calls this (getting children out of poverty)
i dont ( Hitler did this ,) useing our crown courts for elegal
practices against the people of Britain
dont you argue with your partners some times
I wonder what the Queen would say about this if she was told , it is her council you are useing to legalize inslavement of children for money of the tax payer
and not going after the real neglected children ,you have no time for that
Not one off the national papers or the BBC have the nerve to take the government on over this and theres many people who have spoken up about it even MPs and solicitors
now its on my door step and I am speaking up
I might pay you the same compliment one day Mr Brown and see your wife up set like my family
- Mrs Sandra Ybert, Stourport England
The target is impossible as there will always be a proportion of people earning less than 60% of the average salary. This is because, as they earn more, the average salary goes up thereby leaving them in the same category. The only way to reduce the number of people who earn less than 60% of the national average is to reduce the national average. this will best be done by forcing all MPs and the PM to take a pay cut as they earn significantly above the national average and distort the statistics - especially after the pay rises that they kepp giving themselves.
However, most of these people will still have homes, cars, tv's, computer games and be able to afford holidays. Not exactly my definition of poverty when you look at large populations of people in Africa who do not even have a roof over their heads or clean water.
- Graham, Reading, England
There is one basic issue that has to be grasped. Shelling out vast sums of money to many parents does not impact child poverty!
- Roy G, Solihull, England
JL is absolutely correct, rather than penalising people who can't afford to have children, the government appears to be endorsing child poverty. If anything couples who are on welfare should be discouraged from having larger families as they simply can't afford it.
- Trevor Roll, London
Gordon Brown's methods of raising children out of poverty actually achieve the opposite. By focusing support on children of non-working lone parents at the expense of married couples, he makes it more attractive to be a non-working lone parent. And no state can afford to provide benefits that equate to 60% of the average family income (the threshold at which child poverty is defined) to such a large number of people.
- Jl, London, England
I think Save The Children are a moral disgrace. Poverty is now measured in relative not absolute terms. If everyone is a billionaire then a millionaire is in poverty.
What rubbish! Relative to the rest of the world are these children in poverty?
It is amaxing how words get perverted.
Charities are just interested in boosting their own self worth and egos - that is okay, they have a right to value the feel of being holier than me BUT let's not forget that.
- Chung Yung, London, England
