The National Youth Agency - End Child Poverty (ECP)

End Child Poverty (ECP)

3.8 million children – one in three – are currently living in poverty in the UK, one of the highest rates in the industrialised world. This is a shocking figure given the wealth of our nation.

The National Youth Agency is one of the organisations supporting the End Child Poverty (ECP) campaign. ECP aims to help the government achieve its target to halve child poverty in the UK by 2010 and end it by 2020. However, without significant action to end bad housing, poor education, employment, childcare and income, these targets will be difficult to reach.

Also of interest...

To find out more about the campaign at: www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/

End Child Poverty

Support the Month of Action, send a message to the Chancellor: www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/action

The Campaign to End Child Poverty is made up of more than 90 children’s charities, child welfare organisations, social justice groups, faith groups, trade unions and others concerned about the unacceptably high levels of child poverty in the UK. These groups have united because there is widespread concern that the Government will fail to reach its targets of halving child poverty by 2010 and eradicating it by 2020.

In order to meet its targets, the Government needs to take the following actions:

Halving child poverty by 2010

Ensure adequate incomes for families – By 2010, the Government needs to spend £4 billion on benefits and child tax credits.

Ensure an adequate home for every child – By 2010, the Government needs to ensure that 20,000 additional social rented homes per year have been built to lift 154,000 children out of bad housing.

Eradicating child poverty by 2020 - To achieve the 2020 target of ending child poverty, the Government needs to redistribute more to the poorest families and invest more in the services that support them. In the long term, the Government must prioritise support to education and employment so that the life chances of children and young people from low-income families are radically improved. To achieve this, the Government must provide:

Decent work for all:

Ensure that work pays through an increase in the minimum wage and in in-work benefits and tax credits.
Make sure that parents are not trapped in poor quality jobs by investing more in help for the most disadvantaged to get, keep and progress in employment.
Make sure that all parents can combine work and family life through the provision of a sufficient supply of high quality affordable, accessible childcare.

A good education for every child:

Provide access to high quality early years provision for every child from a low-income family.
Aim to close the gap between state and private school funding levels and ensure that new spending is geared towards schools in the poorest area or with the poorest intake.
Ensure education works for all children by rolling out personalised learning agendas in schools to guarantee increased support, particularly for those from the poorest backgrounds.