Peers urged not to 'sideline' child poverty measures

The coalition, made up of charities, civil society organisations and faith groups, says that Government proposals in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill to replace the measures with a new duty to report on worklessness and educational attainment, will not determine how many children are living in poverty.

It says that there is overwhelming evidence that income-related child poverty measures are a ‘key driver’ of child outcomes.

Ahead of a second reading of the Bill at the House of Lords next week (17 November), the coalition is calling on peers to ensure the measures are not side-lined, particularly in light of ‘bleak projections’ of steep rises in child poverty.

According to an analysis of the latest Household Below Average Income figures by End Child Poverty, the number of children in poverty in working households has risen by 300,000 since 2010 to reach 2.4 million. It says this means that nearly two-thirds of children in poverty live in working households.

The coalition also wants members of the public to join its campaign and write to a peer.

Sam Royston, chair of End Child Poverty, said, ‘We know money matters and we need to keep measuring whether families have enough. Scrapping the poverty measures set out in law will leave ministers blind to the numbers of children living in families struggling to get by because they lack the money they need to stay warm and fed - including nearly two and a half million children in working families.’