Mind the gap! Why the Government must act now to end child poverty in the UK

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has recently estimated that 3.5 million children live in poverty in the UK, and projects that relative and absolute poverty are both likely to rise in the coming years. Changes to VAT, rises in unemployment and inflation, and cuts in public spending are all set to hit the poorest families the hardest.

Against this backdrop, UNICEF's research shows that we are failing to achieve equality between children in the UK, and that the gap between the poorest children and the rest is growing. It shows that child poverty and inequality in the UK is fundamentally the result of low income. Although it is far from the only factor in improving the life chances of children, in short - income really matters. 

Achieving an adequate standard of living - a right held by children under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - comparable to their peers plays an important role in enabling children to build self-confidence and develop to their full potential. With the publication of the first UK child poverty strategy alongside the 2011 Budget in March, the UK Government has a real opportunity now to create new momentum behind the cross-party commitment to end child poverty by 2020.

UNICEF UK is calling on the UK Government to ‘Mind the Gap' and act now to end child poverty in the UK. Our new campaign urges the Government to put an ambitious child poverty strategy in place that tackles both parental low income and the wider causes and effects of child poverty to ensure that all children have the opportunity to develop to their full potential.

Child poverty in the UK can't be properly or permanently addressed without action to close the gap between the poorest children and the rest. And much of this, even in the straightened economic circumstances we find ourselves in, will require investment. Tax credits, income support and the national minimum wage have been essential in the fight against child poverty to date. Investing in children must not now become a choice, but rather the fundamental principle upon which our society is based. And the money?

The money. UNICEF UK is calling on Government to take the lead in paying the Living Wage to all its employees and sub-contracted staff, and encouraging all public and private sector employers to do the same. We're calling for a small tax on the financial sector - a Robin Hood Tax - which could help to generate at least £10 billion to combat child poverty in the UK. And we're asking the Government to fulfil its obligations to children under international human rights law by applying a child focused fairness test to spending decisions and changes to the education, health, welfare and tax systems to ensure they don't cause children to fall further behind and deeper into poverty.

The Government must build squarely on what has gone before and seize the opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of the children that still live in poverty in the UK.