Nursery World - Government urged to put disadvantaged children at ‘centre stage’ of Covid-19 recovery plan

The Social Mobility Commission (SMC), an independent body which advises the Government, says the youngest and most deprived in society need to be the focus of the UK’s pandemic recovery.

The Social Mobility Commission proposes a £14bn package of support to lift millions out of poverty PHOTO Adobe Stock

Within its State of the Nation 2021 report, the SMC calls for a ‘shake-up’ of child welfare benefits and significant investment in education to end child poverty and reduce the ‘widening’ attainment gap.

It says that action is needed now to ‘rescue the next generation from decades of hardship’ and says the Government, employers and educators should start by ending child poverty. According to the commission, almost one in three children (4.3 million) are now in poverty, 700,000 more than in 2012.

To lift 1.5m children out of poverty, it proposes a £14 billion package of support which includes:

It also recommends:

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