30 March 2007
Campaigners have reacted angrily to news that the number of children living in relative poverty has risen in spite of the government's pledge to halve the total by 2010.
Kate Green, chair of the Child Poverty Action Group, said official statistics revealing that in 2005/06 an extra 100,000 children were living in households existing below the poverty line was 'deeply depressing'.
An analysis of the government's own figures by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, published on March 27, concluded that the main cause was the government's failure to increase tax credits in line with average earnings growth.
Green said if ministers were serious about meeting their 2010 target they would need to invest an extra £4bn in the fight. Gordon Brown allocated £1bn to increase tax credits in last week's Budget.
'Britain has one of the highest employment rates in Europe, yet one of the worst child poverty rates,' she said. 'More investment is vital, particularly for those unable to work.'
The statistics showed that the number of children living in relative poverty, before housing costs, rose from 2.7 million to 2.8 million, the first increase since 1997. When housing costs were included, the number increased by 200,000 from 3.6 million to 3.8 million.
IFS research economist Luke Sibieta said: 'If the squeeze on public spending limits Brown's capacity to play Robin Hood over the next few years, poverty and inequality may return to an upward trend and his child poverty target will drift further out of reach.'
Responding to the figures, welfare minister Jim Murphy said: 'It is the trend over time that matters for children, and under this government we have decisively reversed rising child poverty.'
PFmar2007
