Cameron must prove he ‘means it’ with child poverty promise

Commenting on David Cameron’s speech today at the Conservative Party event to launch the report Making British Poverty History, Kate Green, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said:

“We welcome the attention the Conservatives are giving to child poverty, particularly the focus on underlying poverty.

“David Cameron said today ‘we can end poverty – I mean it!’, but unlike all the other parties, he still won’t make this a promise. Ending child poverty is a marathon not a sprint, but like a marathon, it is achievable. You don’t ask for support to run a marathon by saying you ‘aspire’ to jog for a bit, you have a clear target to run 26 miles.

“As the only mainstream British party not to have a firm commitment to eradicate child poverty in a generation, it’s time for Cameron to prove he has faith in his party’s proposals and turn the ‘aspiration’ to end child poverty into a promise.”

On the Conservatives’ focus on ‘severe poverty’ in their new report, she added:

“All attention on the poorest families is welcome, but these figures are dodgy. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has published a report that warns the Conservatives they are using unreliable figures to make claims about ‘severe poverty’. The most important and reliable measures are of families below 60% median income, persistent poverty and material deprivation.”

Notes for editors

• The Institute for Fiscal Studies published a warning about the unreliability of the conservatives use of the 40% median income measure to indicate ‘severe poverty’ in their annual ‘Poverty and Inequality Report’ in 2007 (see page 27): http://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn73.pdf
• 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