Public finds income standards for poor families unacceptable

Commenting on the findings of a Joseph Rowntree Foundation study published today, which showed a two parent family with two children would need an income of £370 a week to afford the basket of goods needed for an ‘acceptable’ standard of living, Paul Dornan, Head of Policy for Child Poverty Action Group, said:

“The poverty line is actually well below what British people say is an acceptable standard of living. It is shameful that 3.9 million of our children are living below the poverty line. We cannot have so many children growing up in conditions well below what British people say are acceptable.

“There is nothing inevitable about poverty. Other wealthy countries have far fewer children living in poverty, so we must all demand that the Government’s promise to end child poverty is kept.”

Notes for editors

• The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has today published A minimum income standard for Britain: what people think http://www.jrf.org.uk/pressroom/releases/010708.asp
• The JRF research finds British people believe a couple with two children require an income of £370 per week for a minimum acceptable income (after housing costs). The currently poverty line for a couple with two children aged 5 and 14 is about £316 per week (projected from the official figures for 2007). The safety net benefit entitlement in 2006/07 for a couple with two children aged 5 and 14 was £217 per week.
• CPAG is the leading charity campaigning for the abolition of child poverty in the UK and for a better deal for low-income families and children.
• CPAG is one of over 100 member organisations of the Campaign to End Child Poverty, campaigning for public and political commitment to ensure the goals of halving child poverty by 2010 and ending child poverty by 2020 are met.

For further information please contact:
Tim Nichols
CPAG Press Officer
Tel. 020 7812 5216 or 07816 909302
tnichols@cpag.org.uk