High levels of child poverty are currently costing the country at least £29 billion each year, or £1,098 per household, according to new calculations prepared by Loughborough University for the Child Poverty Action Group.
The research updates a similar study for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2008, which found the cost of child poverty to the UK at that time to be £25 billion a year. The estimate includes the costs of policy interventions required in childhood to correct for the effects of poverty, as well as the longer-term losses to the economy resulting from reduced productivity, lower educational attainment and poorer physical and mental health.
Commenting on the findings, Alison Garnham of CPAG said: 'This research shows that policies which increase child poverty are a false economy, costing the country as well as poor children themselves dear. We need spending plans that support rather than undermine a new child poverty reduction strategy. Policies must address low-income families’ concerns such as job creation and job security, living wages, and affordable childcare and housing.'
Source: Donald Hirsch, An Estimate of the Cost of Child Poverty in 2013, Child Poverty Action Group
Links: Report | CPAG press release | Guardian report