Bid to reduce child poverty off target

Progress towards government targets to slash child poverty was
described as “disappointing” last week after figures showed only a
16 per cent reduction in three years.

In 1999, Tony Blair pledged to reduce the number of children living
in poverty by a quarter within five years and to halve it by
2010.

Between 1998-9 and 2001-2 the number of children living in
households earning less than 60 per cent of median income fell by
500,000, according to statistics from the Department for Work and
Pensions.

Half of all children live in households in the bottom two-fifths of
the income league, the report says.

Martin Barnes, director of the Child Poverty Action Group, called
the figures disappointing but said the tax credits starting in
April “will make a substantial difference”. 

– More on Households Below Average Income 1994-5 to 2001-2
at www.dwp.gov.uk/whatsnew/index.htm