Slow progress in cutting poverty

25 Mar 04
Government attempts to reduce poverty and inequality across England have had a limited impact so far, despite sustained investment, according to a report by the Social Exclusion Unit.

26 March 2004

Government attempts to reduce poverty and inequality across England have had a limited impact so far, despite sustained investment, according to a report by the Social Exclusion Unit.

A 'stocktaking' study of Labour's pan-departmental anti-poverty drive, published by the SEU on March 22, reveals that the poor conditions faced by some ethnic minority groups in particular have proved difficult to overcome.

'Life chances for those born into poverty continue to be far worse than [for] those from privileged backgrounds, and high concentrations of worklessness remain in some areas,' the report says.

The SEU reveals that just 53% of single parents, for example, are in work, while 18% of pensioners and 16% of children live in 'persistent' poverty. There are some areas of England where people are 23 times more likely to be unemployed than elsewhere.

'The groups that seem to benefit least from policies also seem to be those that suffer persistent disadvantage, for example, some ethnic minority groups and those with poor skills,' the report adds.

But the unit, set up by Labour in 1997 to assess and address inequality, does highlight areas where sustained government investment has begun to reverse the poverty gap.

Ministers claimed 'good progress' has been made in reducing the number of children living in relative low-income households by 500,000 since 1997, while the number of people sleeping rough has fallen by 70% over the same period.

Speaking at a conference in London this week, Yvette Cooper, a minister in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which oversees the SEU, said: 'The government has halted and started to reverse deep-rooted and powerful trends.'

But she added that there was still a long way to go.

It has been suggested that Chancellor Gordon Brown could hold departments to account for slow progress on tackling poverty by tying elements of this summer's Spending Review cash to improvements. However, the Treasury would not comment on the issue.

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