Speaking at a fringe event at the Liberal Democrat party conference, Pickles said policy must stop concentrating on children in "isolation" to their families.
"There is a fundamental problem with only talking about children and not actually thinking about parents, parenting skills and parental competence and investment in early years," she said.
She claimed that "stable healthy two-parent families" and more investment in early years services would go a long way to reducing poverty.
She said: "So much research shows us that the nought to three period of a child's life is absolutely fundamental. That's why we need to be investing in families and parenting skills, to ensure that children receive the nurture and care that will set them up for life."
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