Wales
200,000 children live in poverty in Wales. Living in poverty dramatically affects a child’s life chances. Poorer children can expect fewer qualifications, lower-paid jobs and shorter lives than their richer classmates. No child should be born without a chance.
Groundbreaking legislation putting Wales ahead of the rest of the UK, young people telling ministers what they think, innovation from some of the country’s most vulnerable teens — these are the tangible signs that child poverty is being tackled in Wales.
Here, despite budget cuts on top of a history of deprivation, we are making real inroads into child poverty.
Children themselves are opening the eyes of politicians to the reality of child poverty — and they’re determined to do something about it.
- One in three children in Wales lives in poverty.
- Wales is the first UK nation to make the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child part of domestic law — a groundbreaking achievement.
Read No Child Born Without a Chance — Save the Children’s manifesto for tackling child poverty in Wales.
The challenge
One-third of children in Wales are affected by poverty, going without essentials or living in homes which are cold or damp.
Nearly 15% live in severe poverty — the highest proportion of any UK nation.
In the valleys and other parts of Wales where industry and manufacturing have shut down, poverty is deep and longstanding.
Now new job and budget cuts pose an even greater threat to children's wellbeing.
Given this, will the Welsh government be able to fulfil its ambitious commitment to ending child poverty? The legislation is in place, but now is the time to translate this commitment into action.
Our achievements
We are proud that we’ve helped bring about a hugely important piece of legislation.
After years of work by us and the Wales United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Monitoring Group, Welsh ministers are now legally bound to have due regard for the rights and obligations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
From now on, the convention is part of domestic law, and this means that any decision made by the Welsh government has to show how it affects children’s rights.
A poor start in school can set children back for the rest of their lives.
So in 2010 we launched Families and Schools Together (FAST), an eight-week rapid-intervention programme in schools in some of the poorest communities in Wales.
And it works!
In our first two pilots in Caerphilly, we found that children were better behaved, performed better academically, and had better relationships at home.
Parents said they were more confident about helping their children in school. And we’ve helped young people and children propose their own solutions to poverty.
We organised the first National Child Poverty Conference in May 2010, launched by the Deputy Minister for Children and chaired by the Children’s Commissioner for Wales.
Young ambassadors from our In My Back Yard community development programme met more than 100 decision-makers at our first Child Poverty Breakthrough Summit in November 2010 and told them about the projects they’ve run in their communities to help tackle poverty.
“We opened their eyes,” said one teenager.
With our support, young gypsies and travellers created a brilliant new website for other gypsies and travellers and for those working with them.
Young Gypsy Travellers from Wales launch a new leaflet about their rights, June 2010
What’s urgent now
On paper, the Children and Families (Wales) Measure will ensure that all public bodies develop strategies and action plans on child poverty.
Through our project Child Poverty Solutions we’re helping the public sector implement this vital piece of legislation. Read more about our agenda for action.
Our Participation Unit — which we host on behalf of the Children and Young People's Participation Consortium for Wales — has ensured that children and young people’s participation is an integral part of the Children and Families Measure.
By exercising their right to participation, the poorest children and young people will have greater access to services and will have a say in how those services can better meet their needs.
You can help
Affordable childcare for Britain's poorest families is crucial if they're to work themselves out of poverty.
Find out more
- Visit the Children's Rights in Wales website
- Visit the Child Poverty Solutions website — designed to help people working across the public sector in Wales to develop local responses to reducing child poverty
- Save the Children’s Travelling Ahead project
- No Child Born Without a Chance: Our manifesto for Wales
Contact us
Wales Programme
Phoenix House,
3rd Floor,
8 Cathedral Road,
CARDIFF
CF11 9LJ
Tel: 029 2039 6838
Fax: 029 2022 7797
Email: walesinfo@savethechildren.org.uk
Community Fundraising
Phoenix House,
3rd Floor,
8 Cathedral Road,
CARDIFF
CF11 9LJ
Tel: 029 20 345224
Fax: 029 2022 7797
Email: s.donald@savethechildren.org.uk