'Billions needed' to stop child poverty
Updated on 17 February 2009
A new report seen by Channel 4 News, claims the government's plans to eradicate child poverty won't happen without billions more pounds of public spending. Nick Martin reports.
Child poverty discussion
Jon Snow interviews the welfare reform minister Tony McNulty and Hilary Fisher, Director of The Campaign to End Child Poverty.
The heating is only on for half an hour each day in Helen Schofield's house in Stockton on Tees. The 33-year-old mother of five says she can't afford the soaring gas bill and has resorted to drastic money saving techniques.
"I sit in the kitchen when the kids are at school because it's cheaper to be warmed by the tumble dryer than have the gas on", she tells me.
We're in the kitchen of her home and Helen is packing more clothes into the dryer as if adding more logs to the fire. Her 12-year-old daughter Charlotte is in the living room doing her homework on a computer provided to her by the school as part of a hardship scheme.
Helen tells me that she has less money in her pocket today than the same time last year. Her partner works full time but after paying the bills and buying the food the rest of the week is a struggle.
"After everything's paid there's nothing left. We're still paying the same things as I was last year, it's just things cost more, you get less for your money."
Child poverty report
Read the findings on child poverty from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation here (.pdf).
According to the government's criteria, Helen Schofield's children are living in relative poverty - that means as a family they bring home 60 per cent of what an average family earns in a month.
In 1998, Tony Blair announced a major piece of policy - to halve child poverty by 2010 and eradicate it by 2020. It was ambitious and high profile but as time has gone on it's become harder and harder to meet the targets.
And new figures seen by Channel 4 News, due to be published tomorrow, show that the government will have to find billions more each year to meet its child poverty targets.
"The children are being hit hard," says Helen. "Charlotte does activities at school but there's just no money to pay for them anymore. The school is very understanding and will give us time to find the money to pay for things. But it's hard. "
The report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation says that to successfully hit its 2010 mark, the government will have to invest an estimated £4.2bn a year in benefits and tax credits above the present plans.
New figures seen by Channel 4 News, due to be published tomorrow, show that the government will have to find billions more each year to meet its child poverty targets.
It says that while projections for 2010 show that child poverty will fall from 2.9m to 2.3m the government is still 600,000 children short of its target.
Kate Green, Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group said: "I think in the time that is remaining to meet the 2010 target the fastest and only guaranteed route that the government can take now is to increase family incomes from benefits and tax credits and other measures because this is now an urgent situation."
Where Helen Schofield lives the high street, like so many others up and down Britain, is being slowly strangled.
Where shops like Woolworths closed down a month ago, others have followed. Outside of London the north east of England has more children living in poverty than anywhere else.
According to the findings of the report, the estimated cost of taking a child out of poverty has risen from £4,300 to nearly £7,000 since 1998.
The estimated cost of taking a child out of poverty has risen from £4,300 to nearly £7,000 since 1998.
By 2020, without new policies to help low income families, the report says child poverty is projected to rise to 3.1million children. If that happens the child poverty level in Britain would almost be back at the level it was in 1998.
Donald Hirch, the report's author said: "The key thing for the government is the next budget. It will have the chance to put more money into eradicating child poverty and if it wants to stand a chance at meeting its own target it will have to put more money into the system. In many ways the budget is D-Day for the government's child poverty targets."
A few doors up from Helen Schofield, Maurice Clarkson is looking after his two year-old son who has learning difficulties. Maurice lost his job six months ago and cannot get another so in the meantime he is living on benefits. But he says he can only rely on himself to lift him and his family out of poverty.
"I have to do it for myself. I believe that with dedication and hard work I can get myself out of this strap that I'm in. I think if I can do that then that philosophy will rub off on my children."
It is likely that the government will not make it's 2010 target - for Helen Schofield 2010 is a long way off.
"It's the school holidays next week and I've got no idea what we'll do. I've been sitting in this kitchen thinking about what activities I can get the kids on but there's no money left."
nick.martin@itn.co.uk
Watch the report
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said the recession would also push more households into severe poverty, which could cause irreparable damage to their children.
Our north of England correspondent Nick Martin has this exclusive report.
