Resources: Review - Common factors that lead to poverty

However, certain groups of children are at much greater risk of povertythan others and some are hidden in statistics. At Greatest Risk, fromthe Child Poverty Action Group, identifies those children and looks atthe particular concerns and problems most affecting them, such asbenefit inadequacy, worklessness and housing.

Among the groups identified as being disproportionately at risk arelone-parent families, children or parents with disabilities, children inlarge families, Gypsy and Traveller children and asylum-seeker families.The book notes that these are discrete and largely homogenous groups buta number of depressingly familiar themes link families and children fromand within the different groups.

It asks why these children are losing out. Are structural problems suchas anomalies within the tax credit, benefit, education or employmentsystems to blame, or are families failing to access support because of alack of information, problems with access or discrimination? As the bookpoints out, these are questions the Government will have to deal with ifit is to meet its historic mission to eradicate child poverty by2020.