Child poverty: welfare changes will have devastating impact

The dreadful welfare changes that happen today will hit many households hard. These changes will also have a devastating impact on child poverty.

Figures show that the number of children living in poverty will increase because of the government's changes to the benefits system and tax credits. The Institute of Fiscal Studies project 800,000 more children will be living in poverty by 2020 because of the coalition's welfare cuts. On top this a further 200,000 children could fall below the poverty line because of the benefit uprating changes (increasing benefits by 1% instead of at the rate of inflation).

At the same time as pushing through these changes the Government has also been consulting on how child poverty should be measured. This has been seen as a way to downplay the importance of income in measuring poverty, the government arguing that other social and economic factors should be included in a single 'multidimensional' measure of poverty. I disagree with this approach. Attempts to redefine measures of child poverty which downplay the importance of an adequate income as a central measure should be resisted.

This critique of the Government's approach and consultation by Alison Garnham of Child Poverty Action Group is worth reading.

The Leicester Child Poverty Commission which I chair has also responded to the Government consultation, the response can be read here.

The Leicester Child Poverty Commission Report, with 66 recommendations on tackling child poverty and its worst impacts, can be found on the Your Britain website. I hope people will comment and share their thoughts. Reducing child poverty has to be a central theme of Labour's thinking as we develop policy solutions to the challenges we are seeing today.

In February the End Child Poverty campaign published the child poverty rate for each local authority and parliamentary constituency in the country. Of course data at local authority and constituency level does not tell the full story; areas with overall relatively low levels often have wards where rates of child poverty are extremely high.

I have set out the data for the East Midlands below:

Child Poverty by local authority in the East Midlands

Amber Valley	15%
Ashfield	20%
Bassetlaw	16%
Blaby	7%
Bolsover	20%
Boston	16%
Broxtowe	12%
Charnwood	11%
Chesterfield	18%
Corby	18%
Daventry	9%
Derby City	22%
Derbyshire Dales	7%
East Lindsey	19%
East Northamptonshire	10%
Erewash	16%
Gedling	13%
Harborough	5%
High Peak	11%
Hinckley & Bosworth	10%
Kettering	13%
Leicester City	29%
Lincoln	22%
Mansfield	21%
Melton	8%
Newark & Sherwood	14%
North East Derbyshire	13%
North Kesteven	8%
North West Leicestershire	11%
Northampton	18%
Nottingham City	32%
Oadby & Wigston	11%
Rushcliffe	5%
Rutland	5%
South Derbyshire	11%
South Holland	13%
South Kesteven	11%
South Northamptonshire	Below 5%
Wellingborough	16%
West Lindsey	13%

 Child Poverty by parliamentary constituency in the East Midlands

Amber Valley	18%
Ashfield	21%
Bassetlaw	16%
Bolsover	20%
Boston & Skegness	18%
Bosworth	10%
Broxtowe	11%
Charnwood	7%
Chesterfield	18%
Corby	14%
Daventry	9%
Derby North	19%
Derby South	27%
Derbyshire Dales	7%
Erewash	18%
Gainsborough	13%
Gedling	14%
Grantham & Stamford	12%
Harborough	8%
High Peak	11%
Kettering	13%
Leicester East	24%
Leicester South	28%
Leicester West	34%
Lincoln	19%
Loughborough	14%
Louth & Horncastle	17%
Mansfield	21%
Mid Derbyshire	8%
Newark	11%
North East Derbyshire	13%
North West Leicestershire	11%
Northampton North	20%
Northampton South	22%
Nottingham East	33%
Nottingham North	37%
Nottingham South	24%
Rushcliffe	5%
Rutland & Melton	7%
Sherwood	16%
Sleaford & North Hykeham	8%
South Derbyshire	11%
South Holland & The Deepings	12%
South Leicestershire	6%
South Northamptonshire	5%
Wellingborough	15%

Data from End Child Poverty, February 2013.