Government strategy to end child poverty 'set to fail'

The report by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission argues that the Government lacks any credible plans to get back on track to end child poverty by 2020.

It goes on to say that the Government's draft child poverty strategy 2014 to 2017 is a missed opportunity and falls far short of what is needed.

While the commission, chaired by former health secretary Alan Milburn, recognises there are some good things in the strategy, such as the extension of chidcare support for low-income families, it believes they will not be enough to achieve the Government's poverty targets.

According to research carried out for the commission by Landman Economics and the National institute for Economic and Social Research, even if the UK achieved OECD-beating employment rates, it would still not be possible to end child poverty by 2020.

The research estimates that even heroic assumptions about parental employment rates and earnings would still leave more than three million children in absolute poverty by 2020.

Within its report, the commission goes on to identify problems with the Government's strategy for reducing child poverty, including: