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| Rising numbers of UK children in "poverty" |
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| Written by Administrator | |
| Wednesday, 28 March 2007 | |
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According to the BBC and others, some 3.8 million children in the UK are living in what is described as "relative poverty". This is a rise of some 200,000 on the previous year, and represents an abject failure of New Labour's anti-poverty policies.
Or does it?
According to John Hutton (Work and Pensions Secretary - quite what he's got to do with child poverty we've no idea), "considerable progress" has been made. A 5% rise in absolute numbers in one year is hardly progress, however; and taking into account those "lifted" out of relative poverty since 1998/99, this is a rather more worrying 33% rise.  Real poverty, but not in the UK So, presumably in order to give itself an easy target, Labour defined "relative poverty" (with regard to children) as those who live in homes who's income is less than 60% of the average income. This is a bizarre target - not to mention a moving target - and bears no relationship to whether a household is "in poverty" or not. Pensioners in Poverty The average household income in 2004/5 was approximately £25,000; thus, the boundary for "children living in relative poverty" is any household with less than £15,000 income. This hardly qualifies as "poverty"; indeed, many households (with or without children) cope very well indeed on such "paltry" sums. A single pensioner on a basic state pension, for instance, receives only about £4,500 per year - a full £10,500 below the Government's self-inflicted "poverty line". Eradicate Child Poverty Labour have repeatedly claimed that they intend to "eradicate child poverty", and to "halve it by 2010". What they seem to fail to realise is that "absolute child poverty" doesn't actually exist in the UK; they would be far better off tackling the real moral outrage - the fact that pensioners in the UK are being short-changed by £billions every year. Footnote: I tried to find a picture of a poverty-striken child in the UK, but was unable to do so. I think that pretty much says it all.         |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 28 March 2007 ) |
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