Child poverty

The coalition government has claimed that it is tackling the root causes of poverty by 'giving people opportunities rather than trapping them in dependency', in its response to the first annual report of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission.

Social security benefits are an essential tool for reducing child poverty, according to international evidence highlighted in a paper published by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG).

The paper, prepared by researchers at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, illustrates the effect of taxes and benefits on child poverty rates across the European Union in 2012.

More than half of all children in poverty are missing out on crucial help that could keep them warm, a new analysis by the Children’s Society has revealed. The report highlights the extent of fuel poverty in the UK, and says many children living in poverty are also living in inadequately heated homes.

Plans by the coalition government to change how child poverty is officially measured have had to be shelved due to deadlock in a row between the Treasury and the Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, according to a report in the Guardian newspaper.
 
Duncan Smith outlined the plans in a consultation document in November 2012. The document said that although income mattered, a new multi-dimensional approach was needed to tackle the problem of child poverty. It suggested criteria for measuring child poverty that included: living in a workless household; living in a family with problem debt; living in poor housing or a troubled area; living in an unstable family environment; attending a failing school; having parents without the skills they need to get on; or having parents who are in poor health. The coalition government subsequently produced polling evidence that it said showed popular support for the measures.