A report published last week by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said that halving child poverty by 2010 would require spending an extra 4 billion a year on benefits and tax credits, and the 2020 aim 'will be far harder'. It said that despite the Government's progress so far, a further 40 billion investment would be needed to hit the 2020 target.
The JRF emphasised that the Government's long-term goals could only be achieved by permanently improving parents' employment and wage situations.
'These targets can not be met through benefits alone,' said the report's author Donald Hirsch. 'Families must be helped to im-prove their market earnings at the same time as getting extra assistance if their income falls short.'
Speaking at the launch of the report, John Hutton, secretary of state for Work and Pensions, hinted at a possible refocus of employment programmes that would place parents at the front of the queue for jobs.
But the chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, Kate Green, said, 'The simple truth is that further investment in benefits and tax credits is vital to lift people out of poverty, ensure that work pays and meet the 2010 goal.'
Ms Green added, 'As the Government prepares to publish an updated child poverty strategy in the autumn and its Comprehensive Spending Review next year, the JRF report should be vital summer reading for ministers.'
To download a free copy of the JRFreport, What will it take to end child poverty? Firing on all cylinders, visit www.jrf.org.uk/ bookshop/.
