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5m children “living in poverty in five years”, despite UK target to end child poverty by 2020 (29 May 2014)

Date: 29/05/2014
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, 5m children “living in poverty in five years”, despite UK target to end child poverty by 2020

A new report by charity Save the Children has said that, by 2020, as many as five million children could be living in poverty in the UK.

New Labour pledged to end child poverty in Britain by 2020.

In 2012, former New Labour Health Secretary Alan Milburn warned that the pledge would fail, however – and added that the government would have to spend £19 billion to meet the target.

New Labour’s target of halving child poverty by 2010 also failed – and subsequent cross-party pledges to end child poverty by 2020 are also destined to fail, says the Save the Children report “A Fair Start For Every Child”.

In May 2010, the Coalition government took over from New Labour.

By 2010, however, the UK was two years into the credit crunch, which resulted from the banking crisis of 2007-2008.

The Save the Children report says that children have paid the highest price during the economic downturn, suffering the effects on their families of rising prices, stagnant wages and welfare cuts.

The report also says that rising food prices during the recession have impacted on children’s wellbeing, with food prices rising by around 19% more than other products between 2007 and 2011.

The charity adds that, since 2003, fees for nursery places for the under-twos have also risen by 77%. The government has introduced tax relief on approved childcare costs, including child tax credits and childcare vouchers.

Chief executive of Save the Children, Justin Forsyth, said:

"Millions of children in the UK are being left behind – sentenced to a lifetime of poverty.

“Far too many of our children are living in cold and damp homes, without healthy food, with parents who can see no end to their situation.

"If we ignore the rising toll of poverty, we are blighting the future of a further 1.4 million children. In one of the world's richest countries, there is simply no excuse."

The researchers say that children brought up in the poorest families may face a lifetime of difficulty, including levels of low achievement – one-third of children brought up in poverty achieve five GCSEs at good grades and a further one-third win a place at university.

Mr Forsyth said:

"Our political class is sleepwalking towards the highest levels of child poverty since records began, while promising to eradicate it completely.

“It's time our politicians faced the scale of the crisis head-on – and each party set out a concrete plan to get us back on track ahead of the general election.
“The current all-party commitments to social security cuts in the next – combined with underlying labour market trends and inflation – mean no party has a coherent plan to avoid this crisis.”

Estimates by Landman Economics were used in the study to calculate the effects of the UK’s economic downturn on child poverty.

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