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Child poverty really exists in Britain today. Hundreds of thousands of children go without birthday parties, school trips or having friends round for tea because their parents are too poor to afford these 'extras'. Hundreds of thousands of parents live with the stress of knowing that their sons and daughters miss out on friendship and can even feel like outcasts.
Children and parents pay the highest costs of child poverty, but we all pay part of the price. Children in poverty are one facet of the inequality that has led to rocketing house prices, crime, anti-social behaviour and poorer economic performance. We all have an interest in ending child poverty. Here at the TUC, we estimate that child poverty costs more than £600 a year for every adult and child in the country.
It doesn't have to be like this. In the 1980s and early 90s the number of children in poverty rose rapidly; in 1979 just 15 percent of children were poor; by 1997 this figure had more than doubled, to 36%. But child poverty can go down as well as up. Over the last 10 years, tax credits and benefit increases have already brought the number of children in poverty down by 600,000. An extra £4 billion would mean that, by 2010, we could have just half as many children in poverty as in 1997
Unions are campaigning to persuade the Government that this would be a good investment. We would all be better off in a Britain without child poverty: help turn that dream into a reality.
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Latest news:
Government is ducking its commitment to child poverty, says TUC
Responding to today's (Thursday) speech on child poverty by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, the TUC has accused the government of ignoring the facts behind the problem.
Child benefit freeze will cost two-child families over £400
The government's decision to freeze child benefit between 2011 and 2014 will cost families with two children more than £400, TUC analysis revealed today (Friday).
Income is key determinant of poverty
The Secretary Work and Pensions is right when he says poverty isn't just about income, there are other related characteristics that contribute to an impoverished quality of life. Refreshing the debate about poverty is timely and welcome, given that current government policy is driving the incomes of families in the region down with little chance of much improvement in the near future. Read more...
Welfare Reform Bill: the ‘Benefit Cap'
A briefing to explain why the TUC opposes the 'benefit cap'.
Are Disabled People Swinging the Lead?
A background report published for the 2012 TUC Poverty Conference
Child benefit cuts will hit nearly a million single income families
Nearly a million single income families earning between £43,875 and £87,750 – the maximum a family with two incomes can earn without paying higher rate tax – will lose their child benefit under plans announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review today (Wednesday), according to the TUC.
Child wellbeing and income inequality in rich societies
A recent article in the 'British Medical Journal' shows that inequality harms children's wellbeing. Fair and Square: Free school meals for all children in poverty
More than half of all school-age children living in poverty are not getting free school meals. These 1.2 million children may not be eating a single nutritious meal all day. The ‘Fair and Square’ campaign has a petition calling on the government to make sure the poorest children get the free school meals they need to thrive. Global March Against Child Labour
The Global March Against Child Labour is a movement to mobilise worldwide efforts to protect and promote the rights of all children, especially the right to receive a free, meaningful education and to be free from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be harmful to the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.' Government progress on child poverty
In december the Government published their 'Autumn Performance Report', which showed that “Our commitment to eradicate child poverty by 2020 stands and while, as this report shows, there is much to be done we cannot and will not turn away from the challenge.” Keep the Promise
The TUC is supporting End Child Poverty's 'Keep the Promise' campaign to hold the Government to their promise to halve child poverty by 2010 and end it by 2020. Keeping Mum
Keeping Mum is the Fawcett Society’s campaign that exposes the links between women’s poverty and child poverty. Save Child Benefit
The value of Child Benefit has been frozen until 2013/14, drastically cutting the amount families receive, and it will be taxed away from families in a complex and deeply unfair way. Save Child Benefit brings together individuals and organisations opposed to these changes.
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