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'Benefiting from work' - Save the Children 2010
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ECP launches Keep the Promise publication - 26th of Apr, 2009
Gordon Brown said “serious people are needed for serious times”. In its new Keep the Promise publication, launched today, End Child Poverty, the country’s largest coalition of children’s charities and other organisations, has brought together seven leading thinkers from its member organisations to talk about the particular challenges facing the UK’s poorest families in these most serious of times.
On Child Poverty and Disability, Brian Lamb Chair of the Special Educational Needs Consortium says, “It costs three times as much to bring up a disabled child as it does a non-disabled child. These extra costs associated with disability drive high levels of poverty among disabled children and their families …In the recent Carers UK survey, more than one in five families said they had to cut back on food as a result of the costs of bringing up their disabled child.”
On Child Poverty and education, Christine Blower, Acting General Secretary, National Union of Teachers, says, “Children from low-income families… tend to be physically weaker and have less energy for learning, and may have a range of emotional, social and behavioural difficulties… Children and young people living in poverty regularly arrive at school without having had anything to eat or drink. Teachers will testify this leads to poor levels of concentration and can also affect pupil behaviour.”
On Child Poverty and housing, Adam Sampson, Chief Executive, Shelter, says, “A survey of families… found that, due to their housing situation, children miss on average 55 days of school per year, which is usually due to disruption caused by moves to, and between, temporary accommodation.”
On Child Poverty and health, Nick Spencer, Professor Emeritus of Child Health, School of Health and Social Studies, University of Warwick, says, “Among three-year-old children... 4.2% suffered from chronic illnesses …compared to just 1.7% among well-off families…Adults who faced financial hardship during childhood are more likely to suffer from a variety of illnesses including high blood pressure and heart disease and symptoms of mental ill-health.”
On Child Poverty and children’s rights, David Bull, UK Executive Director, Unicef says, “When we talk about child poverty, we are thinking about the impact poverty has on children’s rights; rights to health, to education, to protection and to develop as an individual. Poverty is a barrier to the rights to which all children are entitled.”
On Child Poverty and childcare, Alison Garnham, Joint-Chief Executive, Daycare Trust, says, “Parents, in particular mothers, cannot engage in paid work and help improve family incomes without comprehensive, accessible and affordable childcare services…In short, government efforts to increase the proportion of mothers in work...cannot take place without the necessary national service infrastructure in place along with the reassurance that their children are well cared for in high quality settings.”
The publication comes ahead of the budget, in which End Child Poverty is calling on the Government to invest at least £3 billion in tax credits and benefits to meet its target to halve child poverty by 2010 and eradicate it by 2020.
For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact Chloë Bryan-Brown 020 7278 3405, media@ecpc.org.uk
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