UK policy: A success story?
Child poverty is at the heart of the United Kingdom (UK) government's social policy agenda. Child poverty rose rapidly in the 1980s; the child poverty rate was one of the highest in Europe by 2000. In 1999, the government's objective was to reduce child poverty by 50% by 2004/2005, which it narrowly failed to meet. In 2005/2006, there was an increase in child poverty. An index of child well-being found that the UK was 21st out of the 25 European Union countries. Overall, the UK came in last in the UNICEF well-being index. The government's child poverty strategy has been to manage the economy to maximize employment and to improve in-work incomes. Both have been successful in reducing child poverty. Out-of-work incomes have also been improved, but not enough to lift many children out of poverty. Public expenditure on services, especially health, education and childcare, has also increased; although there are questions about how much of this extra spending has focused on children and child poverty. The comprehensive spending review, reporting later in 2007, is likely to be tight, and it is now unlikely that the government will succeed in its aim of reducing child poverty by 50% by 2010 unless there are radical changes in policy. Constraints on the government's ability to do this include the structural inequalities in British society and public attitudes toward people in poverty.
Bradshaw
Jonathan
J
Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of York, United Kingdom. jrb1@york.ac.uk