UK families in severe poverty live on an average of £7,000 a year
New report reveals 1.3 million children living in severe poverty in the UK.
Tuesday 19 June 2007
1.3 million children live in severe poverty in the UK, the fourth richest country in the world, according to a new report. For a couple with a child that means living on an average of £7,000 a year, or less than £134 a week.
An income of £7,000 means that a family has only £19 per day to cover electricity and gas, phones, other bills, food, clothes, washing, transport, health needs as well as activities for children and all other essential items. Save the Children believes it is an outrage that in such a wealthy country, parents are struggling to get by on such low incomes and children are missing out on basic things like living in a warm house, having a proper diet or going on a school trip.
Using a new measure that combines household incomes with adult and child deprivation, the report calculates that 10.5 per cent of children or 1.3 million live in severe poverty
Published a week before Gordon Brown becomes Prime Minister, child poverty has been one of Gordon Brown's flagship issues and he has repeatedly said that children will be at the heart of his government's policy. However, current predictions show that the government are way off track on meeting their targets of halving child poverty by 2010. Radical action is needed to tackle severe child poverty if they want to achieve this seminal target and give children in the UK the best possible start in life.
"There are more than one million children living in families with incomes a long way short of the poverty line and lacking real basics. Save the Children has argued that the government must direct greater resources towards this critical group. The government have taken important steps to target child poverty, but more action is needed, particularly to help those facing the most severe deprivation" Adair Turner, a former Chair of the Low Pay Commission, said.
The report - Severe Child Poverty in the UK - also reveals that:
- London has the highest levels of severe poverty, where more than 1 in 6 children are in severe poverty.
- 84 per cent of families in severe poverty cannot make regular savings of £10 or more per month.
- 74 per cent cannot replace any worn out furniture.
"We can't let these children slip below the radar. They're the children who are hardest to reach, need the most help and the greatest investment to lift them out of poverty. As part of the campaign to End Child Poverty, Save the Children urges the government to tackle severe poverty now if it wants to stand a chance of meeting its target of halving child poverty by 2010" Jasmine Whitbread, Chief Executive of Save the Children, said.
We are calling on the government to:
- Invest a further £4 billion to ensure that their target of halving child poverty by 2010 is met.
- Help those on low incomes cover expensive times of year with the introduction of seasonal grants.
- Implement an action plan on severe child poverty. They must:
- Introduce a measure of severe child poverty and ensure policies are targeted at those in severe poverty.
- Invest significant resources to promote take up and knowledge of benefit and tax credit entitlements. - Reform the social fund to ensure it is an effective anti-poverty tool.
