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Investing in services for children in need is significantly cheaper than the cost of repairing the damage caused to their lives and society generally, says a report by Barnardo's this week.

Almost four million children in the UK - one in three - live in poverty, with one in five children living in a family where no one works at all. But millions of pounds could be saved by tackling child poverty.

Calling for a comprehensive strategy to give these children a future, Maggie Smith, Barnardo's director of children's services, said: "It's not only the right thing to do, it's a sound investment."

The report assesses the life histories of eight young people who had come into contact with the charity, to see what more could have been done to help them.

In most cases, interventions that could have led to a more positive future for the child, had they been made early enough, were significantly cheaper than dealing with the social consequences of not intervening.

In order to end child poverty by 2010, as pledged, the government should establish a minimum income standard, ensure short-term initiatives and funding links into mainstream programmes, and ensure all services are "joined up" and based on evidence of their effectiveness, Barnardo's says, arguing that children still "fall through the gaps between education, health and social welfare provision".

Meanwhile, a report published this week from the Royal National Institute for the Blind reveals that many of the UK's 22,000 blind and partially sighted children, young people and their families receive insufficient and unco-ordinated services.

Counting the Cost of Child Poverty from Barnardo's 01268 520224

Shaping the Future from RNIB 0345 023153