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Tax reforms 'won't end child poverty

Worsening child poverty rates in Britain cannot be reversed by the Government unless it underpins its tax and benefit reforms with a publicly-funded 'resilient, robust system of early years services to improve the life chances of young children', a leading figure in early years provision has warned. Eva Lloyd, chief executive of the National Early Years Network, made her remarks following a report from the Family Policy Studies Centre and the National Children's Bureau showing that the UK was among the least-effective countries in Europe at tackling child poverty.
Worsening child poverty rates in Britain cannot be reversed by the Government unless it underpins its tax and benefit reforms with a publicly-funded 'resilient, robust system of early years services to improve the life chances of young children', a leading figure in early years provision has warned.

Eva Lloyd, chief executive of the National Early Years Network, made her remarks following a report from the Family Policy Studies Centre and the National Children's Bureau showing that the UK was among the least-effective countries in Europe at tackling child poverty.

She said, "The child poverty statistics should reinforce the case for more direct public funding. The Government's strategy should not be limited to the Working Families Tax Credit and dependent on the fluctuating labour market.'

Ms Lloyd added that the Government's measures were mainly aimed at those who in work, while the report showed that, among 15 European countries, the UK has the second-largest proportion of the households with no one in a job.

The report, Poverty: The outcomes for children, edited by Professor Jonathan Bradshaw of the University of York's Social Policies Unit, reviewed British data over the past 20 years. It highlighted how poverty is reflected in a wide range of factors, including child increasing child mortality, low birthweight, fatal accidents, teenage pregnancy, neglect and physical abuse, poor housing, homelessness, low educational attainment, and suicide.

The report stressed that Government policy must 'address the underlying causes of poverty as well as the outcomes'. It said health and education interventions can only achieve a certain amount within direct action on poverty, and asked how health intervention can prevent low birthweight when an third of pregnant women are dependent on income support, which has be frozen in real terms of for more than 20 years.

The report also called for more comprehensive data to inform policy-making. It noted how other countries monitor the well-being of their children and said this underlined the importance of maintaining regular reports on the conditions of children to sustain political pressure for an improvement in living standards.

Martin Barnes, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, called the report a useful antidote to 'media poverty fatigue' and said it placed further pressure on the Government, which has pledged to eradicate child poverty and reduce the number of children experiencing it by one million over the next three to four years. He added that it showed how poverty is often hidden under poor educational attainment or failing health.

The report costs Pounds20 (plus Pounds3 p&p) from Book sales at the NCB on 020 7843 6029.