Nursery World - To the Point - Ways out of poverty

The election manifestos of the main parties all include ideas for
reducing poverty - the next step is a comprehensive strategy, says Julia Unwin.

By 2020 there will be 3.5 million children in poverty in the UK.

All political parties have now laid out their plans for tackling this, but it's important to remember that no single cause can be tackled alone.

A complex web of issues, including unaffordable childcare, the high cost of essentials, low wages and problems with the benefit system lead to people being unable to make ends meet. What we need to see is a comprehensive plan, which tackles all these issues and helps people from all groups to find a way out of poverty.

Poverty is costly, wasteful and risky. It affects a child's educational achievement and reduces earnings later in life. Child poverty is calculated to cost the UK £29 billion each year. These largely avoidable costs undermine the impact of more productive spending on improving infrastructure or updating skills.

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