It's a question they've had since 1999 to answer, when Labour firstlaunched its historic pledge on child poverty, which - controversially -the Lib Dems have yet to sign up to.
David Laws, the Lib Dems' work and pensions spokesman, admits that it'sa "legitimate criticism" that the party hasn't thought enough aboutchild poverty. But rather than nominally signing up to the pledge, hewants to make sure the party has a clear idea of what the problems areand how to tackle them. And it's hard to sign up to a moving target, hesays, pointing out that the Government's initial talk of eliminatingchild poverty has switched to pulling it in line with the lowest threecountries in Europe.
"It's not for any lack of commitment to reducing it but because we wantto make sure it's the right target defined in the right way," hesays.
So, after Menzies Campbell became party leader, a working group of LibDem MPs, including Laws, was asked to develop plans to tackle inequalityin time for the 2007 party conference.
Laws has already courted controversy with child poverty charities bycalling for income support to be cut for lone parents. Currently, loneparents can claim income support until their youngest child is 16.However, Laws wants to bring the age down in stages, starting when theyoungest child starts secondary school, thereby encouraging parents togo out to work.
"It's good to have parents looking after their children in the earlyyears but there's no evidence that having parents out of the labourmarket for 20 to 25 years does them or their child any good," hesays.
Although he acknowledges child tax credits have played an important rolein lifting children out of poverty, he says the Government cannot relyon them indefinitely.
"My worry is that the Government has one big club at the moment to useon child poverty, which is child tax credits. There's an increasedconsensus on the left of the spectrum that you can't just put infinitemoney into them," he says. "Our aspiration shouldn't be to get everyoneout of child poverty by a massive payment of means-tested benefit thatkeeps them in dependency. As well as getting out of poverty we shouldgive them the ladders to get them out of poverty."
Instead, Laws wants to put extra money towards child benefit. As anon-means tested benefit it doesn't carry the same disincentive to work,he explains.
So he wants to consider the idea of targeting money by correcting thecurrent "bizarre" situation where younger siblings receive considerablyless child benefit than the oldest, a policy also supported by the ChildPoverty Action Group. And in line with the Institute of Fiscal Studieshe wants to consider shifting investment from child tax credits toworking family tax credits, for parents starting work. He also wants toresurrect a former Lib Dem policy of having a higher rate of childbenefit for under-fives.
However, he is at pains to point out this is simply one strand ofpolicy.
There is a "hell of a lot more" to do on improving education and skills,childcare and housing. Labour has failed on housing, he says, whichforms around a third of expenses for those on a low income. Laws wantsto invest in affordable social housing and reverse planning regulationsthat have stifled their development.
The Lib Dems would also look at redirecting childcare tax relief back tothose on low incomes, he adds, if the evidence continues to confirm ithas become more useful for those on middle and upper incomes.
He is angling for the issue to become a major manifesto promise and animportant plank of Lib Dem policy in 2007. It will be worth the wait, hepromises. "If we weren't taking this incredibly seriously we wouldn't bespending so long getting the policy right."
BACKGROUND - The Tackling Inequality Working Group
Questions the group will consider:
- Should we sign up to the 2020 target for eradicating childpoverty?
- How can access to childcare be improved in order to enable loneparents to re-enter employment?
- Until what age of a child is it appropriate to give lone parentsincome support without requiring them to seek work?
www.libdems.org.uk/party/policy/consultationlist.html.
