Research predicts the Government will fail to meet its promise to halve
child poverty by next year.
When research was last conducted five years ago, the majority of children in poverty had parents who were unemployed. But a new study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and ISER shows that, even though the majority of children living in poverty now have at least one parent in work, they are earning so little they are unable to raise their family above the poverty line.
The study, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, predicts the Government will fail to meet its promise to halve child poverty by next year unless another £4.2 billion is spent on the problem. It also questions the Government’s assertion that the best route out of poverty is work.
The Government wants to reduce the number of children in poverty from 3.4 million in 1998 to 1.7 million by 2010. However this report forecasts that there will still be 2.3 million children beneath the poverty line when the deadline expires.
The research shows that low-paid and casual labour does not necessarily help in pulling families out of deprivation. Professor Holly Sutherland from ISER explained:
‘The idea is that you get a job, progress upwards and be lifted out of poverty in the long term. But, for a lot of people, the jobs are low-paid, casual and short-term, and often they are back on to benefits very quickly.’
The report concludes that the 2010 pledge could still be fulfilled if the Government spends another £4.2 billion on increasing child tax credits, a means-tested form of benefit for children available only to those on low incomes.