There is ‘a snowball’s chance in hell’ of meeting the statutory target of ending child poverty by 2020, according to the government’s official adviser on social mobility.

Alan Milburn told MPs that £19 billion would have to be spent to achieve the goal, requiring the biggest redistribution of income in history. Existing trends indicated that the earliest the goal could be achieved would be 2027.

Milburn is also the government’s preferred candidate to head the new Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission.

Source: Evidence by Alan Milburn to House of Commons Education Select Committee, 10 July 2012
Links: Evidence (video link) | BBC report | Guardian report