Early Years: A step out of poverty

In March a central plank of Labour's social policy - the pledge to halve the number of children living in poverty by 2010 - took a severe blow. Following eight years of steady progress towards the target, official figures showed that child poverty was rising again. In 2006, 100,000 more children in Britain were living in relative poverty than the year before. The income of the poorest fifth also dropped in real terms.

Whether the 2010 landmark can still be achieved and whether the ultimate aim of eradicating child poverty altogether is still viable depends, to a large degree, on what happens locally. The Childcare Act 2006 gives local authorities the new duty of reducing inequalities among children under five. From April 2008, local authority-controlled children's centres will be required to work with the NHS and JobCentre Plus to improve outcomes for very young children. This adds a new legal dimension to the policy framework provided by the government's Every Child Matters strategy. Ministers believe "integrated early years services will play an important role in helping the government achieve its ambition to eradicate child poverty".