Since its 2018 report, the Commission has continued to build support for its approach to poverty
measurement. It was pleased to welcome the Government’s announcement that the Department
for Work and Pensions would be developing experimental statistics based on the Commission’s
measurement approach.
This report uses the most recent data available to provide a comprehensive account of poverty
based on the Commission’s measurement framework. It provides both a detailed overview of the
extent and nature of poverty in the UK today and original analysis that shows how this has changed
since the first year where the data for the Commission’s measurement framework is available
(2000/01).
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England commented:
“It is alarming and unacceptable that the poverty rate for children is rising and that over half of all children in poverty are living in persistent poverty. Growing up in poverty impacts not only on the day-to-day lives of children, but seriously hampers their chances of doing well at school and their job prospects and health in adulthood.
“Tackling and eliminating child poverty should be an ambition and priority for all governments. The upcoming Spending Review is the chance for the new Prime Minister to show that turning around the lives of these children matters to his Government. It will not be cheap and it will require strong leadership across government departments, capital investment in institutions that can help our most vulnerable children and targeted long term investment in family and child support. The Government can also have an immediate impact looking again at the impact of Universal Credit on those families who are already struggling.
“We know that reducing child poverty can be done, because it has been achieved before. It is time to make it a priority again.”