Do not make children the victims of the recession, says children’s charity

Responding to the Taxpayers’ Alliance and Institute of Directors report ‘How to save £50 billion’, Kate Green, Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, said:

“This report outlines deep, swingeing cuts to education, training and to support for children. These policies are precisely the wrong answer to a downturn caused by unregulated casino capitalism. These policies would damage children and families long after the recession is likely to have ended in the UK.

“The Taxpayers Alliance and Institute of Directors propose abolishing child benefit, the popular, effective and well-targeted scheme on which many families rely, and replacing it with a complex, error-prone and expensive to administer means-tested system. Child benefit is the cornerstone of policy to support families; to means-test now wouldn’t just throw the baby out with the bathwater, but the bath as well.

“The answer at a time of fiscal constraint is for society to come together, but more means-testing will stigmatise the poorest families more. All should pay a fair share, and those with the broadest shoulders should take more of the burden. The report says nothing about how resources could be more equitably raised, such as by reducing tax perks given out through low rates of tax for the wealthiest.

Notes for editors

• 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 150 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:
Paul Dornan
Head of Policy
Tel. 020 7812 5222
pdornan@ cpag.org.uk