Child Poverty Strategy Off Target

The government will probably miss its goal of halving child poverty by 2010, official figures are set to reveal. Statistics are expected to show the aim of reducing the number of children in poverty to 1.5 million will not be met.

{mosimage}The government hopes the launch of a new £150m child poverty strategy, which includes a programme to get parents into employment, will help.
Charity Save the Children said the target is slipping out of reach and wants more urgency from ministers.

There are fears that the target of eradicating child poverty in the UK by 2020 will be unachievable.
Under the “New Deal for Families”, for the first time all applicants at Job Centres will be asked whether or not they have children. The government says advisers can then consider the applicant’s need for help with looking after their family.

In last week’s Budget, Chancellor Gordon Brown announced increases in benefits and tax credits aimed at lifting more than 200,000 children out of poverty. Save the Children’s UK director Colette Marshall said: “This vital target is slipping dangerously out of reach.”

She added: “It is only too clear that Gordon Brown’s Budget announcements last week will not be enough to get the government back on track. We must now see a sense of urgency from the government to make the target achievable.”

The statistics will be released by the Department for Work and Pensions.