income

Ending severe child poverty

This report asks what a focus on severe child poverty adds to our understanding of child poverty and what it may suggest in terms of future strategic approaches and policy solutions With the government committed to their goal of ending child poverty by 2020 there are concerns that policy has not reached those families in the most severe poverty.

The living standards of families with children reporting low incomes

The government has high-profile child poverty targets which are assessed using a measure of income, as recorded in the Household Below Average Income series (HBAI).

However, income is an imperfect measure of living standards. Previous analysis suggests that some children in households with low income do not have commensurately low living standards.

This report aims to document the extent to which this is true, focusing on whether children in low-income households have different living standards depending on whether their parents are employed, self-employed, or workless.

Can work eradicate child poverty?

This report examines the extent to which work can contribute to the eradication of child poverty, and identifies a number of issues that necessarily arise if work is seen as the best route out of poverty. The government has repeatedly stated that work is the best route out of poverty. This implies that work is not the only route, but is the preferred or main route in tackling child poverty. This report examines the extent to which there is underemployment among parents and a desire to work among parents who are not currently working.

Child Poverty Act 2010

The Child Poverty Bill was introduced to the House of Commons on 11th June 2009 as Bill 112 Session 2008-09. "The Bill would provide a statutory basis to the commitment made by the Government in 1999 to eradicate child poverty by 2020." It "places a duty on the Secretary of State to meet four United Kingdom-wide income poverty targets by the end of the financial year 2020".

Cycles of poverty, unemployment and low pay

Household incomes are dynamic and families can move in and out of poverty over time, with some of them becoming trapped in a cycle. What causes this kind of ‘recurrent’ poverty and how does it relate to unemployment and low pay? How could these cycles be broken? This report summarises the findings of four projects about recurrent poverty and the low-pay/no-pay cycle and examines relevant current UK policy and practice and suggests ways to create longer-lasting routes out of poverty.

Ending child poverty: 'Thinking 2020'

In June 2008, the Child Poverty Unit held an event entitled ’Ending Child Poverty: “Thinking 2020”’ at which around 100 stakeholders from across lobby organisations, academic institutions, devolved administrations and local and central Government attended. The event was designed to begin a discussion with stakeholders on the vision for a UK free of child poverty by 2020, and the route by which that could be achieved.