Campaign seeks £4bn for children

Chief executives of more than 50 charities have written to Chancellor Gordon Brown urging him to pledge £4 billion to fight child poverty. The letter, sent from members of the Campaign to End Child Poverty at the start of End Child Poverty Month, coincided with the release of the cross-government annual report Opportunity for All, which contains a chapter on child poverty. The report found that the proportion of children living in low-income households fell from 25 per cent in 1996/97 to 19 per cent in 2004/05.