UK Child Poverty Strategy rather misses the point

Almost two weeks later than expected, the Government today published the UK's first ever child poverty strategy. Emerging from the landmark legislation brought forward in the Child Poverty Act, the strategy is intended to set out how we, as a nation, will achieve the target of eradicating child poverty in the UK by 2020.

Last year, the Act itself was a huge step forward for children in recognising, in legal form, their right to enjoy an adequate standard of living in the UK. The UK child poverty strategy offered a real opportunity to make this legislation a reality for some of our most vulnerable children. And while it purports to do this, the strategy somehow misses the point. The Government's intention of adopting a holistic approach to dealing with child poverty is commendable, but it is undermined by the Government's failure to tackle low income, shown by recent UNICEF research to be a key driver of poverty and inequality in the UK. This lack of focus risks compromising a whole range of plans and strategies from both local and central government that hope to build better lives for children.  

Last week's Budget measures, the recent price rises and new growth and inflation figures now make it all the more urgent that the child poverty strategy places the UK's poorest children firmly at the forefront of the political decision-making process. They have to be the priority in every Department, and for every politician. To continue to take no effective action is unacceptable and raises serious questions about the Government's continuing commitment to the 2020 target to end child poverty.

Perhaps the social mobility strategy, in the works for some time and interestingly published alongside the child poverty strategy today, will pick up the slack? Efforts to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and drive socio-economic change - thus contributing to better outcomes for children - are naturally to be welcomed. But they must not be allowed to distract from the need for a comprehensive plan of action to tackle child poverty and inequality once and for all. The evidence suggests that it is the societies with lower rates of economic inequality and child poverty that manage to achieve and sustain higher rates of social mobility. Placing the main focus on improving social mobility rather than tackling child poverty will manifestly fail to make a sustainable dent in the child poverty figures. And behind those figures? 3.5 million children growing up without the things they need to develop to their full potential.