Child poverty
1.4 million children live in poverty in the UK despite being brought up in working households, according to research by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). 600,000 children have been lifted out of poverty in the past 10 years but the number living in poverty has remained constant. The institute wants the UK Government to improve the minimum wage and tax credits for poorer families.
The international definition of poverty was household income at less than 60% of median incomes. For a couple with one child under 11, that meant living on less than £260 a week. A quarter of children in the UK are said to live under that level.
The life chances of children in poor families continue to be below average and the abolition of child poverty is therefore a key requirement in achieving a socially just and economically prosperous population.
