Welsh Child Poverty Levels slump back to 2003 levels

Cymraeg
English

Kirsty Williams AM <info@kirstywilliams.org.uk>

Welsh Child Poverty Levels slump back to 2003 levels - Kirsty

May 7, 2009 12:00 AM

Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has today criticised the Labour-Plaid government on their lack of commitment and action to tackle child poverty in Wales. Statistics released today reveal that child poverty levels in Wales have gone back to 2003 levels while the percentage of children living in poverty in Scotland has fallen and Northern Ireland has remained constant.

The information released form the Department for Work and Pensions show that the percentage of children living in Households Below Average Income (After Housing Costs) in Wales has increased from 29% in 06/07 to 32% in 07/08.

In January, Kirsty Williams warned the Welsh government that the recession will have a devastating effect on a generation of children in Wales.

Kirsty Williams said:

"These statistics are a huge blow to the fight against child poverty in Wales and this proves the lack of action and firm commitment from the Labour-Plaid government in tackling this issue. It is unacceptable that the percentage of children living in poverty in Wales has gone back to the levels it was five years ago.

"How has the Scottish government managed to get more children out of poverty this Welsh government has managed to put more children back in to poverty? The Labour-Plaid government are losing the fight against child poverty.

"We have been warning the Labour-Plaid government for a long time that they aren't doing enough to get children out of this poverty trap. Economic poverty among children leads to a poverty of goals and ambitions and continues the vicious cycle of families living in poverty from one generation to the next. This vicious circle must be broken.

"What chance does this government have of abolishing child poverty levels if it can't even reach half way? Back in January I warned the Labour-Plaid government that more and more children could be living in poverty as the recession bites down harder. What is even more worrying is that these statistics reflect the situation before the recession hit Wales. I dread to think what the full impact of the recession will have on child poverty.

"This is more than just a missed target for the Labour-Plaid government; it's a missed opportunity for thousands of children in Wales. Child poverty is social injustice at its worst."

NOTES:

Table can be found here: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/hbai2008/pdf_files/full_hbai09.pdf

The measure most widely used by the Assembly Government to measure child poverty is the number of children living in households with less than 60 per cent of the UK median household income. This measure comes from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data set, published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Percentages of children living in households below 60 per cent average income are normally quoted before and after housing costs have been paid.