Poverty policy lacks input from children

In its report Telling It Like It Is, the charity has documented a raft of real-life experiences from children living in poverty.

Such views are important to help ministers understand the harsh realities children in poverty have to endure.

The report states: "These children are experts on their own lives and understand what it means to be poor. Yet too often their voices are left out of debates and discussions about what the government should do to end child poverty."

The children and young people who took part are involved in Save the Children’s UK projects and are also featured in a documentary called Poor Kids, screened on BBC One tonight (7 June).

Among those featured is 11-year-old Sam from Leicester, who told the charity: "We have to save up what we’ve got, you know, like food-wise. And sometimes I don’t even get lunch."

His sister Kayleigh, 16, said: "You tend to just start merging into the background, not wanting to join in, because you don’t want people to know what’s going on at home."

Other issues covered in the report include the struggle to afford school uniforms. The report also rejects the view that poverty is caused by poor money management. It says that parents simply do not have enough money to meet all their household costs. Some parents interviewed said they missed meals so that their children can eat.

Sally Copley, Save the Children’s head of poverty UK, added: "Children born into poor families cannot be condemned to spending the rest of their life struggling to get enough food to eat or clothes to wear. As one of the richest countries in the world we must do far more to break this toxic cycle."