No Child Left Behind. A Child Poverty Strategy 2011-2014

The 2010 target to halve child poverty in the UK (from 3.4 million children in 1999 to 1.7 million children) has been missed. Forecasts indicate that 2.3 million children remain in relative income poverty. The impact on these young lives – their educational achievement, health and well-being and future employment prospects – will, in all likelihood, be devastating. This paper is divided into three parts: • a breakdown of recent child poverty statistics, an overview of the causes and characteristics of child poverty and our view on the best measurement of child poverty • comments on the strengths and weaknesses of the government’s current approach, paths to the 2020 target and the moral and economic case for action • the policy solutions we would like to see in the government’s first strategy.