Tagged with child poverty

A Corbyn victory is not only possible, it is our only hope

uk_child_povertyLet us be clear what the Tory welfare bill will mean. If the parents of more than two children are precipitated into claiming benefits through a change in circumstances, like redundancy, a partner leaving them or being bereaved, then their children will suffer. If you are a women with, say 4 children, in a violent abusive relationship, you might be unable to leave and still feed your children. If you already have two children and get accidently pregnant, you may feel coerced into an unwanted abortion.

These are measures that are deeply, deeply wrong, and it is a moral requirement to oppose them. What is more, concern about an equitable welfare system and social safety net has not historically been the preserve of only the left of the party, but also of the traditional right, of the revisionists, and even of the Blairites. It was Tony Blair himself who championed the reduction of child poverty. Continue reading →

Child poverty could be Tories’ Achilles heel

CP1The Tories’ relief that the child poverty figures just published in the official Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics didn’t show an increase was palpable.  But that conceals the real story. The Tories have form on this issue. Child poverty tripled under Thatcher from 1 in 9 children to 1 in 3, but then fell by 800,000 under Labour after 1997. Unexpectedly this trend continued initially under Cameron with a fall to 2.3 million in 2010-11 because middle class earnings declined (so that the threshold of 60% of average earnings dipped a bit) while benefits protected the poorest. However that easing of the child poverty stigma has now come firmly to an end as a result of the housing benefit cap, the bedroom tax and the 1% cap on benefit increases. Indeed it is now forecast, particularly if the new round of £12bn cuts is launched in the budget, that child poverty will have increased by one-third to 1 in 4 children by 2020.

Even that is not the full story. In Opposition Cameron pledged to end the ‘moral disgrace’ of poverty. He went further in 2006: “the Conservative party recognises, will measure and will act on relative poverty……Even if we are not destitute, we still experience poverty if we cannot afford things that society regards as essential”.   Contrast that with the Tory reaction when they believed just before the HBAI statistics were published that the child poverty figures had increased. Were they going to ‘act on relative poverty’ to deal with a worsening situation? No, they were going to move the goal-posts so that nothing need be done. They were going to change the definition of poverty to take account of entrenched worklessness, family breakdown, problem debt, and alcohol and drug dependency – anything except a lack of money. Continue reading →