Child Poverty Action Group

As parents face back-to-school costs, new research published today by Child Poverty Action Group and co-funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that parents face a growing struggle to provide a decent standard of living for their families in 2013.

The BBC Trust has ruled that the programme The Future of the Welfare State with John Humphrys, broadcast in October 2011, has breached its rules on impartiality and accuracy.

The programme, on a subject that the BBC Trust decided met its criteria for being a ‘controversial subject’ and a ‘major matter’, postulated that there is an ‘age of entitlement’.

The BBC Trust considered an appeal brought by Child Poverty Action Group and an unidentified individual complainant – ‘complainant A’.

Child Poverty Action Group has today published estimates of the costs generated by child poverty rates in every local authority and constituency in the UK. The local authority estimates, produced by Donald Hirsch of Loughborough University, are contained in a new report on how local authorities are trying to tackle child poverty at a time of social security cuts and upheaval.

Responding to today’s spending Review Statement by the Chancellor, Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said:

New figures today show that children below the poverty line are now twice as likely to come from homes with work, than homes without work.

Responding to today’s official figures on UK child poverty for 2011/12, published today by DWP, Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said:

“Despite all the talk about ‘scroungers’ and generations of families never working, today’s poverty figures expose comprehensively the myth that the main cause of poverty is people choosing not to work. The truth is that for a growing number of families work isn’t working. The promise that work would be a route out of poverty has not been kept as wages stagnate and spending cuts have hurt low income working families.

Responding to the speech Ed Miliband made today on social security, Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said:

“We welcome the renewed commitment to child poverty reduction as a top priority for a future Labour administration. We always put our children’s needs first in family life, and we should do so as a nation too. Research published this week by Child Poverty Action Group shows that our high levels of child poverty cost Britain £29 billion a year, so it’s not just about doing the right thing for our children, it’s the right thing for our economy too.

Responding to announcements from the Labour Party about the speech Ed Miliband will make today (Thursday) on social security, Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said:

“We welcome Labour’s shift to looking at the root causes that put pressure on social security spending and increase poverty, such as poverty pay, sky-high rents and lack of affordable childcare. The big future savings will come from building more affordable homes, tackling low pay, giving job guarantees and reducing childcare costs.

Commenting on reports that the Labour Party has no plans to restore child benefit in full to all parents, Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said:

The high levels of child poverty in the UK are currently costing the country at least £29 billion a year – or £1,098 per household – according to new research released today by Donald Hirsch of Loughborough University (updating his 2008 study for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation).

The estimate includes the costs of policy interventions required in childhood to correct for the effects of poverty, as well as the longer term losses to the economy which result from poor children’s reduced productivity, lower educational attainment and poorer physical and mental health.

Responding to Walking the Breadline, a new report published today on UK food poverty by Oxfam and Church Action on Poverty, the Head of Policy for Child Poverty Action Group, Imran Hussain, said:

“It’s a national scandal that half a million British people are now having to turn to food aid. It’s a problem that has quickly escalated and shows that something has gone badly wrong with the safety net that is supposed to help families in need. It is particularly concerning that more and more of the families seeking food aid are actually in work, but on poverty pay and facing cuts to their tax credits.