Child Poverty

The Government wants every child to have the best possible start in life.  It has a commitment to abolish child poverty in a generation and halve it in ten years.  A substantial body of evidence shows that children who grow up in poverty experience disadvantage and lack of opportunity that affects not only their own current and future experience as adults but also the life chances of their children.  The evidence on the causes and consequences of child poverty is set out in the Treasury Publication “Supporting Children through the Tax and Benefit System” (1999).

Child poverty is a complex problem and therefore requires a multi-dimensional approach. The Government's strategy includes:

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  ensuring a decent family income, with work for those who can and extra support for those who cannot;
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  access to excellent public services - including a world class education system for all, ensuring that children from poor backgrounds have the skills and education they need to break the cycle of disadvantage;
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  targeted interventions such as the Sure Start Programme and Children's Fund, for those with additional needs and at key stages in life; and
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  harnessing the power and expertise of the voluntary and community sectors, providing support for innovation and good practice, and fostering a strategic partnership with these sectors to fight child poverty.

The Government’s third annual anti-poverty report, Opportunity for All was published in September 2001. The report shows progress against a range of poverty and social exclusion indicators linked to child poverty, including low-income, worklessness, health, education and housing.  Progress to date includes:

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  since Spring 1997 the percentage of children in workless households has fallen from 17.9 per cent to 15.3 per cent in Spring 2001 - there are around 300,000 fewer children living in a household where no one works; and
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  between 1996-97 and 1999-00, the number of children in households below the 60 per cent median income line, fixed in real terms, fell by around 800,000.

 Further details of the report can be found at:

External links

• Opportunity for all - One year on: making a difference

A new framework of support for families with children

Substantial progress has been made in achieving the Government's goals of supporting families with children and tackling child poverty. In a modern economy, the tax and benefits systems must work together to help tackle poverty and provide opportunity.

As announced in Budget 2000, the Government intends, from 2003, to introduce a new integrated child credit. This will bring together the different strands of support for children in the Working Families' Tax Credit, Disabled Person's Tax Credit, Income Support/ Jobseeker's Allowance and Children's Tax Credit, building on the foundation of universal Child Benefit. This will be complemented by a new employment tax credit that will be available to those with and without children. 

On 19 July, the Inland Revenue published a consultation document (New Tax Credits; Tackling Poverty & Making Work Pay). This sets out the Government’s proposals and seeks views on a range of issues (website details provided at end).

Other useful sites:

External links

• The Children and Young Person’s Unit
• The Young Person´s Gateway Website
• Inland Revenue web site for details of the details of the Working Families’ Tax Credit (WFTC), Children’s Tax Credit (CTC) and Disabled Person’s Tax Credits (DPTC)
• Inland Revenue web site for the for the Consultation paper on the New Tax Credits

Internal links

• Back to Family Issues Topic Page