Chancellor George Osborne announced his "growth" budget today but failed to answer our calls to give urgent help to the UK's poorest families.
Wednesday 23 March 2011
Last week, families from some of the poorest regions in the UK visted Downing Street with us to call for urgent help for the poorest children in the UK.
But, while claiming to have "put fuel into the tank of the British economy", the budget announced by the Chancellor today has failed to put much-needed pennies into the pockets of struggling parents.
"Save the Children has been calling for the Chancellor to introduce an emergency plan to help children living in severe poverty in this budget: he failed to do so," said Justin Forsyth, our Chief Executive. "Families are already struggling with high food and energy bills. We are particularly disappointed that he made no move to reverse his decision to reduce support for childcare costs from the UK's poorest families. Without further action we are going to see...yet another generation of children consigned to the consequences of poverty."
Gareth Jenkins, our head of campaigns:
Read more from Gareth on the kind of help UK families need.
Some good news
One piece of good news from today's budget was around GiftAid reform, which should make it easier for charities to claim tax back on the donations you make if you're a UK taxpayer.
Nick Jones, Save the Children's Fundraising Finance Director, says: "Save the Children welcomes the changes announced in the budget on GiftAid and and inheritance tax. We believe these added incentives are likely to encourage charitable giving, ensuring that Save the Children can reach even more of the neediest children around the world."
For details of our UK child poverty figures read our severe poverty report.