UK child poverty
In 2009, the wealth of Britain’s one thousand richest people rose by one-third to more than £333 billion. And yet, in the fifth wealthiest country in the world, 1.7 million children live in severe poverty.
Being poor in one of the world’s richest nations means eating the food supermarkets throw away or being bullied at school because your family can’t afford a new uniform. It means making the choice between having a hot bath or a hot meal. It means paying a disproportionate price for a recession you didn’t cause.
Tough talk at the top
The British government promised to halve the number of children in poverty by the end of 2010. At current projections, it will miss this target by a massive 600,000.
In 2009, we asked the government to invest £4.2 billion to get back on track, but the Chancellor allocated just £140 million in child tax credits. Even so, there were signs of hope.
Ending poverty is the law
The Child Poverty Act enshrined into law the Labour government’s promise to end child poverty by 2020 – in part as a result of campaigning by the End Child Poverty coalition, of which we are a member.
“This act has cross-party support, so no matter which government is in power, it will have to fulfil this commitment,” says our UK Programmes Director, Fergus Drake.
Our campaigning as part of the End Child Poverty coalition also helped persuade the government to provide free school meals for an extra 500,000 of the poorest children – a decision that would lift 50,000 children above the poverty line.
However, the new government has reversed this decision, saying it was not budgeted for. We’ll be campaigning to reinstate these free school meals – they could make a real difference to children on the lowest incomes.
Raising awareness in the media
With funding from transport company FirstGroup, young people in Glasgow, Oldham, Bradford and Newham used the power of film to highlight the reality of child poverty in Britain today. Their five "Wee Shots" films premiered at the House of Commons.
We also act as a consultant on the Channel 4 series How the Other Half Live, which highlights the disparities between the rich and poor in Britain in 2010. Each episode attracted more than two million viewers.
Our agenda for change
- We’re campaigning to stop the systematic waste of potential in our poorest school children. Take action now to support our campaign to close the education gap
- We work directly with thousands of children across the UK to give them a voice to fight poverty in their own communities, meet their needs and boost academic achievement by helping parents engage with their children's education far earlier
- We want to recruit 20,000 campaigners to hold our politicians to their promises to end child poverty by 2020. Please join our cause
- We want to ensure the coalition government fulfils the pledge of the Child Poverty Act
