Up-to-date news on the campaign to end child poverty. http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk *Embargoed until 00.01am, Tuesday 10th January, 2011* The Campaign to End Child Poverty has today published new figures that provide a child poverty map of the whole of the UK. The figures are broken down by parliamentary constituency, local authority and ward. The top 10 parliamentary constituencies for child poverty in the UK are: Constituency (pre-2010 boundaries) % of children in poverty 2011 Bethnal Green and Bow 51% Manchester Central 49% Poplar and Canning Town 48% Belfast West 46% Birmingham, Ladywood 46% Liverpool, Riverside 46% Islington South and Finsbury 46% Hackney South and Shoreditch 45% Birmingham, Sparbrook and Small Heath 45% Regent's Park and North Kensington 44% The top 10 local authorities for child poverty in the UK are: Local Authority % of children in poverty 2011 Tower Hamlets 52% Islington 43% Manchester 40% Hackney 39% Westminster 38% Newham 37% Camden 37% Derry 36% Nottingham 35% The Prime Minster’s Witney constituency (7%), and the Deputy Prime Minster’s Sheffield Hallam constituency (5%), are both in the top ten constituencies for lowest child poverty. They are part of a group of 89 constituencies that already meet the headline target for 2020 by having child poverty rates of 10% or lower. Alison Garnham, Executive Director of the Campaign, said: “The child poverty map paints a stark picture of a socially segregated Britain where the life chances of millions of children are damaged by poverty and inequality. But it also gives us reason for hope. The child poverty target has already been met in the Prime Minister’s constituency and nearly a hundred others, so never let it be said that the targets are impossible to meet. If we can do it in Witney today, we can do it in Hackney tomorrow. “The Prime Minister should make a New Year’s resolution to keep his pledge to ‘make British poverty history’ so that not just children in Witney, but children all over Britain can enjoy a childhood free from poverty.” The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that child poverty will rise by 400,000 children by 2015 unless the government takes a more progressive approach to tackling the deficit. Alison Garnham added: “Child poverty costs us billions picking up the pieces of damaged lives and unrealised potential, so it’s a false economy if we don’t prioritise looking after children today. “Targeting cuts on families will prove both an economic and a social disaster, with businesses losing billions of pounds of demand and families struggling to keep their kids clothed, fed and warm. “The Government urgently needs a serious plan to stop the rise in unemployment and to create jobs so that young people and parents can get out of the dole queue and into the workplace. We need a plan to target investment through the family purse to stimulate the economy, so that shops, services and businesses get the customers they need to stay afloat and recruit staff.” ENDS The full report can be obtained under embargo from the Campaign (see contact details below) and will be published on the campaign’s website on 10 January 2012. Ward level data sheets for English regions can be provided on request during the embargo period. The local data has been produced to correspond as closely as possible to the official definition of poverty used by the government in its regional and national data. However, direct comparisons between the two data sets should not be made (a full explanation of the methodology can be found in the report). Alison Garnham, the Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group and Executive Director of the End Child Poverty coalition, will be available for comment along with the Campaign Coordinator, Tim Nichols. The lead researcher, Donald Hirsch, will also be available for comment. There will also be regional spokespeople available in some areas. For more details see the contacts section at the end of the notes. Case study guidance: Member organisations of the Campaign to End Child Poverty can sometimes support in the provision of case studies, but it is highly dependent on their current project work and whether families themselves are happy to put themselves forward. A list of End Child Poverty member organisations can be found on the website: www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/who-are-we/members. It is often small local charities giving on-the-ground support in a particular community that have the most direct contact with families, so we recommend trying to find out what local charities may be operating in the area you are interested in. In general we encourage journalists in their use of case studies to show sensitivity towards parents who wish to protect their children from the stigma of being labelled as in ‘poverty’ and associated risks such as bullying. The Campaign is calling on the government to rebalance its deficit reduction measures so that the burden does not fall unfairly on families with low incomes. We are also calling on the government to set out clearly the reductions in child poverty they expect to achieve from the child poverty strategy they published in April 2011. The Government has legal duties under the Child Poverty Act 2010 to reduce child poverty to a series of targets across a set of measures by 2020. Every three years the government must publish a child poverty strategy setting out how it will do this. The government’s current child poverty strategy, for 2011 to 2014, can be found here: www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/CM%208061 Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on predictions for child and working-age poverty from 2010 to 2020 can be found here: www.ifs.org.uk/publications/5372 The Campaign to End Child Poverty (www.endchildpoverty.org.uk) is made up of more than 150 organisations from civic society including children’s charities, child welfare organisations, social justice groups, faith groups, trade unions and others, united in our vision of a UK free of child poverty. We campaign to achieve our vision by: Ensuring the voices of families facing economic disadvantage are heard; Increasing understanding of the causes and impacts of child poverty and mobilising public support and action; Promoting to politicians and government the case for ending child poverty by 2020, the actions that will achieve it and holding them to account on the requirements of the Child Poverty Act. Contacts: UK media End Child Poverty contact: Tim Nichols 020 7812 5216 or 07812 5216 tnichols@cpag.org.uk Research team contact: Donald Hirsh 07766 707831 donald.hirsch@googlemail.com http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/news.php?id=24&nid=191 In response to today’s Autumn Statement, the Campaign Coordinator for End Child Poverty, Tim Nichols, said: "The members of the Campaign to End Child Poverty are completely dismayed that the government has dropped a promise to stop child poverty rising. The government now admits there will be 100,000 more children in poverty due to its cuts. It has scrapped an increase in child tax credit that was intended to stop child poverty rising and now admits other cuts will affect child poverty more too. "We were told that we are all in this together and that the broadest shoulders will take the greatest burden. That has not happened today and the poorest families, whether in work or out of work, have been told they will get poorer. It is hard to comprehend why it's the poorest families being hit again." Notes to editors The End Child Poverty campaign is made up of more than 150 organisations from civic society including children’s charities, child welfare organisations, social justice groups, faith groups, trade unions and others, united in our vision of a UK free of child poverty. For a full list of members, visit www.endchildpoverty.org.uk We campaign to achieve our vision by: Ensuring the voices of families facing economic disadvantage are heard; Increasing understanding of the causes and impacts of child poverty and mobilising public support and action; Promoting to politicians and government the case for ending child poverty by 2020, the actions that will achieve it and holding them to account on the requirements of the Child Poverty Act. The £110 increase in child tax credit, due to reach families in April 2012 and previously cited by Ministers as protection against increases in child poverty, has been scrapped today. The government has estimated in its distributional impact assessment that child poverty will be 100,000 higher next year as a consequence of its spending proposals. For more details, see page 6: http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/as2011_distributional_analysis.pdf Contact: Tim Nichols (020 7812 5216 or 07812 5216) tnichols@cpag.org.uk http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/news.php?id=24&nid=190 In response to the publication today of the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy, the Campaign to End Child Poverty’s spokesperson, Imran Hussain, said: "It is empty of action on some of the key requirements and a long way below the standard required by Parliament in the Child Poverty Act. "Ministers can’t really call this a strategy as it doesn’t have the comprehensive measures needed across government to impact on children’s lives. It is not enough after a year in power to still be setting out mood music. Families are facing growing hardship today and you cannot tell them to wait another generation. "Failure to establish the independent Child Poverty Commission in time to consult on the strategy is a major neglect of the Government’s responsibility to Parliament. The proposals are weak and not properly evidence-based compared to what could have been achieved with the expert advice of the Commission. "The evidence shows that ending child poverty and reducing inequality are the means by which we create a society with strong social mobility. The Government has put the cart before the horse and progress on both child poverty and social mobility may go nowhere as a consequence."   Notes to editors: (1) The strategy has been published under the requirements of the Child Poverty Act 2010, which received Royal Assent on 25 March 2010 and was supported by both the Conservative Party and Liberal Democrat Party. See the text of the Child Poverty Act here: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/9/contents (2) The Child Poverty Act required the Government to establish an independent Child Poverty Commission in time to consult it while preparing the UK Child Poverty Strategy (sections 8 – 10) (3) The Child Poverty Act requires the Government’s strategy to include an explanation of how it intends to make progress on the four dimensions of child poverty for which targets are set (section 9): Relative low income Material deprivation (with relative low income) Absolute low income Persistent low income   (4) The Child Poverty Act requires the Government’s strategy to include the measures it thinks need to be taken across the following areas (section 9): "the promotion and facilitation of the employment of parents or of the development of the skills of parents" "the provision of financial support for children and parents," "the provision of information, advice and assistance to parents and the promotion of parenting skills" "physical and mental health, education, childcare and social services" "housing, the built or natural environment and the promotion of social inclusion" (Note that these are often referred to as the ‘building blocks’ of the strategy)   (5) The Child Poverty Act requires the Government’s strategy to set out the measures it will take to prevent children experiencing socio-economic disadvantage (section 9). (5) The Campaign to End Child Poverty submitted to the consultation on the strategy the shared principles the members organisations believe are needed to meet the Government’s obligations under the Act and may real progress reducing child poverty. These principles are attached to the email version of this press release as an additional document. (6) The End Child Poverty campaign is made up of more than 150 organisations from civic society including children’s charities, child welfare organisations, social justice groups, faith groups, trade unions and others, united in our vision of a UK free of child poverty. For a full list of members, visit www.endchildpoverty.org.uk We campaign to achieve our vision by: Ensuring the voices of families facing economic disadvantage are heard; Increasing understanding of the causes and impacts of child poverty and mobilising public support and action; Promoting to politicians and government the case for ending child poverty by 2020, the actions that will achieve it and holding them to account on the requirements of the Child Poverty Act. Contact: Tim Nichols (020 7812 5216 or 07812 5216) tnichols@cpag.org.uk http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/news.php?id=23&nid=189 Responding to the Chancellor's Budget statement, End Child Poverty's Campaign Coordinator, Tim Nichols, said: "The Budget leaves spending plans still failing the Fairness Test and does nothing to guarantee the progress needed on the Government’s child poverty targets. The Government’s first child Poverty Strategy is due to be published any day now and it will need to include some urgent and substantial action to get progress back on track. "You cannot build a stable economy on a bedrock of poverty and inequality. It is meaningless to talk about creating conditions for growth if policies are causing family budgets to shrink and children’s life chances to dwindle. Ending child poverty is integral to getting the economy back on track. "The Chancellor should back the child poverty strategy by investing for growth through better tax credit work incentives and more support for childcare costs so that more parents can access jobs they can raise their families on."   Notes to editors: (1) The Budget document suggests that 50,000 may be taken out of poverty in 2011-12 and 2012-13, but states that the estimates exclude many factors and are “on the edge of statistical significance” (pages 40 and 84 of main Budget 2011 document). It is not clear if this estimate of 50,000 is for each year, or for both years together. If for each year, then the relative low income target for 2020 in the Child Poverty Act would not be reached until 2035; if it is a total across both years the target would not be reached until 2059. (2) Under the Child Poverty Act 2010 the Government is required to (a) publish a comprehensive child poverty strategy no later than 25 March 2011; and (b) establish and independent Child Poverty Commission that it must consult on its preparation of the strategy. (3) The End Child Poverty campaign is made up of more than 150 organisations from civic society including children's charities, child welfare organisations, social justice groups, faith groups, trade unions and others, united in our vision of a UK free of child poverty. For a full list of members, visit www.endchildpoverty.org.uk We campaign to achieve our vision by: Ensuring the voices of families facing economic disadvantage are heard; Increasing understanding of the causes and impacts of child poverty and mobilising public support and action; Promoting to politicians and government the case for ending child poverty by 2020, the actions that will achieve it and holding them to account on the requirements of the Child Poverty Act. Contact: Tim Nichols (020 7812 5216 or 07812 5216) tnichols@cpag.org.uk http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/news.php?id=23&nid=188 Child Poverty Map of the UK report published by Campaign to End Child Poverty The Campaign to End Child Poverty has today published the first instalment of a two part report providing a child poverty map of the UK. Today’s publication provides local authority and constituency information for England. The End Child Poverty website will from today also provide local child poverty data down to ward level in England. Note that the official data used for the local analysis will only be available for other parts of the UK later in the year, following which a further instalment of the report will be published which will include the rest of the UK and updated data for England. The top 10 parliamentary constituencies for child poverty in England are: Bethnal Green and Bow 57% Poplar and Canning Town 55% Manchester Central 52% Islington South and Finsbury 49% Birmingham, Ladywood 49% Hackney South and Shoreditch 49% Regent's Park and North Kensington 48% Tottenham 48% Liverpool, Riverside 48% Holborn and St. Pancras 47% The top 10 local authorities for child poverty in England are: Tower Hamlets 57% Islington 46% Hackney 44% Newham 43% Manchester 42% Westminster 41% Camden 41% Haringey 40% Barking and Dagenham 39% Nottingham 37% Alison Garnham, Executive Director of the Campaign, said: "David Cameron pledged to make British poverty history and we now have a local map of the child poverty rate in each area at the time he took office and his work towards this goal began." "The child poverty map shows a country divided between children born into very different lives, some fortunate, some with much poorer life chances. It reveals that we still have much higher rates of child poverty than in most other wealthy European countries, reaching 57% of children in one London constituency and more than 60% in some wards." "The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have our full support for the promise they made in the coalition agreement to end child poverty by 2020. The difficult economic circumstances we face mean it is more important than ever to end Britain’s child poverty shame." In the next two weeks the Chancellor and the Prime Minster will reveal Britain’s Budget and publish the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy. They will need to address warnings from the Institute for Fiscal Studies that both relative and absolute child poverty will start rising from 2013 onwards under current plans. Alison Garnham added: "The Campaign to End Child Poverty is calling for the Chancellor to explain in the budget how child poverty will be reduced and how parents can access jobs they can raise a family on." "We need to protect jobs and work incentives for the good of both the economy and Britain’s families struggling to stay afloat. The Chancellor must tackle the jobs deficit and look again at unfair cuts to tax credits, child benefit and childcare support that will mean entering a job and staying in work is harder and less likely to make families better off." "Parts of Britain are booming again, with bankers getting billions in bonuses, yet we’re in danger of having a two-speed economy that leaves millions of families behind. Child poverty costs us billions picking up the pieces of damaged lives and unrealised potential, so it’s a false economy if we don’t prioritise looking after children today. The values we cherish and the long-term economic security we need will both be damaged if families facing hardship are left hung out to dry."   Notes to editors: (1) Alison Garnham is the Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group and Executive Director for the End Child Poverty Coalition and will be available for comment along with the Campaign Coodinator, Tim Nichols. The lead researcher, Donald Hirsch, will also be available for comment. (2) Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on predictions for child and working-age poverty from 2010 to 2013 can be found here: http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/5372 (3) Case study guidance: Member organisations of the Campaign to End Child Poverty can sometimes support in the provision of case studies, but it is highly dependent on their current project work and whether families themselves are happy to put themselves forward. A list of End Child Poverty member organisations can be found on the website: www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/who-are-we/members. It is often small local charities giving on-the-ground support in a particular community who have the most direct contact with families, so we recommend trying to find out what local charities may be operating in the area you are interested in. In general we encourage journalists in their use of case studies to show sensitivity towards parents who wish to protect their children from the stigma of being labelled as in ‘poverty’ and associated risks such as bullying. (4) Ward level data sheets for English regions can be provided in advance during the embargo period on request. (5) The Campaign is calling for the Chancellor to use the budget to: Support jobs you can raise a family on by redressing damage to work incentives from cuts to tax credits and childcare support. Prioritise and target areas with high child poverty and low employment vacancies for job creation programmes and economic regeneration. Ensure it is clear how budget initiatives will have a measurable impact reducing child poverty, and as part of a robust strategy in accordance with the Child Poverty Act   (6) The End Child Poverty campaign is made up of more than 150 organisations from civic society including children’s charities, child welfare organisations, social justice groups, faith groups, trade unions and others, united in our vision of a UK free of child poverty. For a full list of members, visit www.endchildpoverty.org.uk We campaign to achieve our vision by: Ensuring the voices of families facing economic disadvantage are heard; Increasing understanding of the causes and impacts of child poverty and mobilising public support and action; Promoting to politicians and government the case for ending child poverty by 2020, the actions that will achieve it and holding them to account on the requirements of the Child Poverty Act.   Contact Tim Nichols (020 7812 5216 or 07812 5216) tnichols@cpag.org.uk http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/news.php?id=24&nid=187