MPs launch inquiry on government's Child Poverty Strategy

The Education and Work and Pensions Committees have launched a joint inquiry investigating how the Government’s new Child Poverty Strategy, announced last month, can meet its aims.
 
The new inquiry will examine the Strategy’s ambition and potential impact and consider which policy measures could help the Government achieve its goal of reducing childhood poverty levels.
 
One in three children in the UK are below the poverty line. Scrapping the two-child limit from April, is expected to lift around 450,000 out of poverty by 2029 and ease the deprivation of many more according to Government estimates. Added to other measures in the strategy, the Government expects 550,000 in total to be raised above the poverty line. However, roughly four million will continue to suffer hardship.
 
The Strategy aims to boost family incomes, reduce the costs, and strengthen support locally to reduce child poverty. Other measures within it include increasing access to free school meals, extending funded childcare entitlements to working parents and investing in Family Hubs. 

While it received support from many organisations, critics have argued that it lacks binding targets. MPs on the Committee will examine this concern, and the experience and future prospects of those who suffer poverty in childhood.
 
MPs will also consider how the Government should work with the UK’s devolved governments to set targets and assess the success of the Strategy, in order to secure its long-term success.

Education Committee Chair Helen Hayes said, “A child growing up without the essentials they need is a child less likely to grow up healthy, to see the benefits of a quality education, and be able to reach their full potential. Children cannot learn properly if they are growing up in cold and damp homes, arriving at school hungry, and lacking access to the books, toys and resources they need to thrive.
 
The Government’s new Child Poverty Strategy is a positive step towards righting this wrong. But does it go far enough? It is crucial that this strategy contains measures which will genuinely change the lives of children and families and in particular lift children out of the very deepest poverty, rather than focusing solely on those who are easiest to help. Through our inquiry, we will work together to examine the ambition contained in this vital plan."