Press Story

IPPR Director, Nick Pearce, said:

"The latest child poverty stats show a complex picture. It's wrong to think that relative child poverty was cut simply because median incomes fell during the recession, as some are claiming today. The child element of Child Tax Credit increased by £20 above indexation in 2010/11, giving an effective uprating of 2.9 per cent. This increased the incomes of families with children, particularly those with lower incomes or with more children, relative to others.

"Given the fiscal position, Ministers should now focus resources on three clear priorities: ensuring under-5s don't live in poverty, building a universal childcare system, and enabling families who work to leave behind the curse of poverty. There are now more children living in poverty in households where one of the parents works than in workless households. Low income families can do all the right things - hold down jobs and raise their children as best they can - and still be poor if they can't earn a decent living."

For a fuller analysis of the child poverty target, see Nick's latest blog:

http://ippr.org/?p=801&;option=com_wordpress&Itemid=17

Notes to Editors

The latest child poverty stats are available here:

http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/hbai2011/pdf_files/full_hbai12.pdf

Contact

Richard Darlington, 07525 481 602, r.darlington@ippr.org

Tim Finch, 07595 920 899, t.finch@ippr.org