Looking abroad to tackle child poverty

When it comes to policy making, governments of all colours have been eager to look across the Atlantic or to Europe for ideas. The most obvious recent example is free schools.  The coalition would be wise to look abroad again in thinking how it could be more creative and effective in tackling child poverty.
 
The numbers of children living below the poverty line is set to rise by 400,000 over the next two years and the government recently acknowledged that its decision to stop uprating benefits in line with the cost of living will increase that number by a further 200,000. Action is needed now more than ever before.
 
A report published today by the National Children’s Bureau, Tackling child poverty and promoting children’s well-being: lessons from abroad, suggests a number of road-tested solutions from overseas for lifting children out of the poverty trap, including making childcare more affordable for working mothers, offering cash incentives for families to promote children’s health and well-being, and introducing neighbourhood anti-poverty zones. Critically, the report proposes the creation of a central ministerial child poverty board to drive forward action across government.
 
Bringing childcare costs within the reach of low-income families, and encouraging mothers into employment, is key to the approach of countries like Denmark, where 84 per cent of mothers with children under the age of 16 work, compared to just 67 per cent in the UK.  To make childcare more affordable, the government should consider increasing the number of hours of free early education available, raising the proportion of childcare costs covered by tax credits and Universal Credit, and reviewing how after-school care could be made more readily available.

The evidence is very clear that low child poverty rates worldwide are linked to high parental, particularly maternal employment.  So as the coalition debates the merits of further investment in childcare it needs to think carefully about making a difference to those who need it most.
 
Having a sufficient safety net is critically important to ensuring families do not fall behind when they hit hard times but there is also merit in considering options for supplementing families’ incomes. A scheme in New York has shown how by providing families with additional cash on top of existing benefits or tax credits, the government could increase families’ financial resources while encouraging the use of health services and regular school attendance. 

These conditional cash transfers have the potential to improve outcomes for children but they should not be used as a substitute for sufficient universal benefits. Instead, the value is in providing a supplement to incentivise engagement in activities that benefit child health and well-being. The government could consider piloting a programme of this kind.
 
Tackling child poverty should not, however, just be about targeting support at individual families. Equally important is taking a place-based approach that recognises the resources within neighbourhoods which are needed to provide good-quality services and housing. To promote this approach, government should fund local authorities to create a number of neighbourhood-based Anti-Poverty Innovation Zones, similar to a model pioneered in Northern Ireland, as a means of bringing together the full range of agencies and services, supported by investment from local businesses, that are need to create strong and resilient communities.
 
These are just a few proposals based on an examination of what works in other countries. But what is also clear from the approaches taken elsewhere is that central government needs to be focused, proactive and strategic. A mechanism at the heart of Whitehall is needed with the authority to drive through action. For example, in Conneticut in the US the state government has created a Child Poverty and Prevention Council to bring together all departments to  deliver a coherent plan.  What is needed here is a similar approach through a single central government delivery board, made up of ministers and supported by senior civil servants, with the power and authority to hold all government departments to account as  part of cross Whitehall strategy.
 
The coalition government has been very clear that it sees tackling child poverty as an important goal. At present it is focused on a major review of how it plans to measure child poverty. It must also turn its attention to more closely examine its current strategy for reducing poverty and, based on lessons from abroad, consider what more it could do to ensure millions of children’s lives are not blighted by the corrosive impact that poverty has on their daily existence.

Enver Solomon is director of evidence and impact at the National Children’s Bureau. He is also chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition, which is made up of more than 150 organisations from civic society