Child poverty to be redefined
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has said he is looking at the possibility of widening the definition of child poverty.
Under Labour, child poverty was defined as a child living in a householdwith below 60 per cent of average income after housing.
But a spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions confirmed itwas looking at a "more holistic approach to poverty".
He said the department would look at a range of elements that affect thesocial circumstance of children, "not just income levels".
The news comes after Chancellor George Osborne last week insisted thatthe government would keep the Labour government's target of eliminatingchild poverty by 2020. Osborne added Labour's definition of childpoverty had not been opposed by the Conservative Party when it wasenshrined in law last year.
