Child Poverty Action Group

Families working full time at the national minimum wage are 18 per cent short of the basic amount needed to provide themselves a minimum standard of living according to the new report ‘The Cost of a Child in 2014’ published today by Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and funded by Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). The shortfall for out-of-work families is even more stark, standing at 43 per cent.

Families working full time at the national minimum wage are 18 per cent short of the basic amount needed to provide themselves a minimum standard of living according to the new report ‘The Cost of a Child in 2014’ published today by Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and funded by Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). The shortfall for out-of-work families is even more stark, standing at 43 per cent.

Child Poverty Action Group has won a legal test case for three vulnerable women who were charged a higher rate of council tax because they only recently moved into the area. The High Court struck down Sandwell Council's policy of refusing a council tax reduction to anyone who had not lived in the area for at least two years.

London’s poorest families are struggling to pay council tax bills from their limited benefit income following cuts to council tax support, according to new figures published in a joint report by two leading London anti-poverty charities, the Child Poverty Action Group and Z2K.

‘A New Poll Tax?’ finds that nearly 4 in 10 Londoners affected by the replacement of Council Tax Benefit by local schemes have been unable to meet these payments and have received a court summons.

Immediate Release

Child poverty statistics highlight inconvenient truths for the government

Key findings from official figures on UK child poverty for 2012/13, published today by DWP show the following:

• Relative child poverty - the tide is turning with child poverty expected to rise in future years

  Relative poverty is the best measure of whether ‘we’re all in it together’ that we have - it measures how many children have living standards that fall behind children in average income families.

Immediate Release

CHILD POVERTY STRATEGY IS NOT A PLAN TO END CHILD POVERTY

Commenting on today’s publication of the government’s child poverty strategy for 2014-17, Alison Garnham, Chief Executive, Child Poverty Action Group, said:

“We welcome the Government’s continued commitment to ending child poverty by 2020 but today’s strategy isn’t good news for a generation of children that needs the government to invest in their childhoods and life chances.

A landmark ruling today from the EU’s highest court has upheld the rights of pregnant EU nationals to equal treatment when claiming benefits.   The European Court of Justice ruled that a French national who was working in the UK and had to give up work because of the late stages of pregnancy should be entitled to income support.

Commenting on today’s publication of ‘The Condition of Britain’ by the IPPR, Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said:

“The Condition of Britain is a chance to move on from attacking the victims of Britain’s condition to addressing its causes – such as the lack of decently paid jobs, expensive housing and unaffordable childcare that has left benefits and tax credits doing too much of the heavy lifting.

Cuts to benefits have left families in London struggling and unsure how they will afford to stay living in their area, according to a new CPAG report released today.

Based on interviews with councils, advice services and parents as well a review of existing evidence, the report highlights that these key groups share the same fear: a housing crisis uprooting families from their homes and communities, with children’s education facing huge disruption by these forced moves.

Responding to the hard-hitting report today from the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission on the government’s child poverty strategy, Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said:

“The Coalition established the Commission as an expert watchdog on child poverty, so when it says the government’s child poverty strategy lacks credibility Ministers must do something about it.