Children in Severe Poverty in Wales: An agenda for action

Over one in four children in Wales and across the UK live in households with an income below the commonly agreed poverty threshold of 60 percent median. Over one in ten children in Wales live in severe child poverty where household incomes are below 50 percent median and children and adults in the household are lacking necessities because they cannot afford them. Child poverty blights the lives of thousands of children in Wales, affecting their education, health, future employment and life-chances.

This report summarises the key findings of a Save the Children and Bevan Foundation project which investigated the circumstances of children living in the most severe child poverty in Wales; reviewed effective approaches for tackling the particular barriers these families are facing and recommends a number of promising approaches to the Welsh Assembly Government. The project involved secondary analysis of data from the Family Resources Survey, an extensive literature review and a round-table seminar with experts in the field (from Wales and across the UK). The project was financially supported by the Welsh Assembly Government and included significant inputs from the New Policy Institute and Focus Consultancy as well as the Bevan Foundation and Save the Children.