SUPPORTING FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES

Child Poverty Bill (click here)

Meeting the ambition to abolish child poverty and breaking the cycle of poverty for future generations by:

• enshrining in law the Government's commitment to eradicate child poverty by 2020;
• defining success in eradicating child poverty based on four targets that aim to:
• reduce the proportion of children who are poor compared to the rest of society;
• ensure that no child experiences poverty for long periods of time. Families can often cope with a temporary period when their incomes fall, but research shows that long periods of poverty have a damaging effect on a child's life chances;
• measure whether the poorest families see their real incomes increase over time to ensure that no family lives in absolute poverty; and
• improve living standards to ensure that all families are able to afford the necessities that others may take for granted, such as adequate housing or a space to play or study. 
• establishing an accountability framework to drive progress at national and local level through requiring the Government to publish a child poverty strategy every three years until 2020, setting out the steps it will take to end child poverty. The Bill would also ensure that the Government is held to account by Parliament and the public for progress made, through an annual report;
• creating a commission of experts in the field of child poverty to provide advice to the Government to inform the child poverty strategy;
• In addition to the UK-wide strategy and target, there are specific duties in the Bill on Northern Ireland and Scottish Executive Ministers to prepare their own child poverty strategies within their own sphere of responsibilities. Measures have been introduced to combat Child Poverty in Wales by the National Assembly for Wales

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