Government aims to lift 550,000 children out of poverty in five years

MORE accessible childcare and an end to families being stuck in bed and breakfasts beyond the legal limit are among the promises in a new child poverty strategy the Government said wiil give all children “a good start in life”.

- AINE FOX

The plan - long-awaited by campaigners - comes amid a record high of 4.45 million children living in poverty in the UK.

Sir Keir Starmer said tackling the issue is a “moral mission for me” and described the strategy as one that “sets a new course for national renewal, with children’s life chances at its heart”.

The Government said failure to tackle child poverty also holds back the economy, with young people growing up in these circumstances doing less well in school, being more likely to be unemployed when older and earning less.

But while it has been welcomed by some charities as a good starting point, Big Issue founder Lord John Bird warned against “warm words” and a strategy he said was lacking in “ambitious targets”.

The crossbench peer, who experienced poverty as a child, said: “The absence of ambitious targets to propel forward this Government's mission to reduce child poverty is deeply concerning.

“In this challenging economic climate, there is every reason to worry warm words will not translate into tangible progress.”

The National Children’s Bureau said it wanted to see “binding targets for further reductions over 10 years but this level of ambition is sadly missing”.

The key move to scrap the controversial two-child benefits limit from April next year - announced in last week’s Budget - will result in an estimated reduction of child poverty by 450,000 by 2029/30 at a cost of £3bn.