Life chances

Child Poverty Action Group, the National Union of Teachers, the British Youth Council and Kids Company have jointly released a report on the Costs of Going to School produced by a group of 400 school-aged young people.

Responding to the Chancellor’s Budget Statement today Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: “Today’s Budget tries to lock-in austerity for millions of low-paid families, poor children, carers and disabled people...

New analysis commissioned by Child Poverty Action Group from the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Essex University highlights how the expected budget announcement on capping Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) could drive up UK child poverty rates.

After a long wait, the government's consultation on a new child poverty strategy for 2014-2017 has arrived amid internal government squabbles on what the targets should be.

Commenting on today’s publication of the government consultation on their new child poverty strategy, Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: “After a long wait, we’re disappointed to see a list that contains little new, or likely to make a dent in the numbers of children growing up in poverty...

On the eve of the publication of the government’s new child poverty strategy, the government’s adviser on child poverty and social mobility, Alan Milburn, has called for the government to maintain its focus on income poverty and warned that an economic recovery without a ‘social recovery’ would not be a success.

London is the child poverty capital of the UK, with more poor children living in London than in Wales and Scotland combined. These numbers are driven up by a jobs market that is not working for mothers. Women with children are less likely to be employed in London than elsewhere in the country.

Responding to today’s speech by Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith, Imran Hussain, Head of Policy for Child Poverty Action Group, said: “We welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to giving claimants the greater flexibility they need to enter work whilst keeping more of their earnings and not having housing support or tax credits thrown into chaos...

No one denies that Rachel Reeves, as Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, has one of the toughest gigs in town. Fiscally, it seems a Labour government would cap spending on social security. Politically, at a time when highly punitive policies such as the benefit cap attract broad public support, Labour is sensitive to proposing any reform that could be spun as "soft on scroungers".

Responding to today’s speech by Rachel Reeves, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: “Rachel Reeves is spot on in saying that you can’t have a strong economy unless you have a system of social security that helps people into work, makes work pay and recognises contribution...