More radical policies needed to tackle Child Poverty

A report today by former welfare minister Frank Field, has critised the government's policies on tackling child poverty, however not the sentiment, nor the ambitious and progressive targets set by the government.

The biggest problem with the system, the reprot argues, is that it discriminates against two parent families, especally those working, and it claims that levels of working poverty for children have returned back to 1995 levels, and that the government is set to miss the targets it set for itself.

The government must take a more radical approach to tackle and eradicate Child Poverty, which is a long term and one of the major goals of every Labour govenrment since the creation of the Labour Party. The progress that has been made so far has been very good, with the government lifting millions of children out of poverty.

However the targets are ambitions, and we need to have ambitions and radical policies to meet them. Labour must make sure that two-parent families and working families are not left behind in the welfare state, that they get the money, the help and the ability to get out of poverty.

This doesn't only mean increase the money they get, of course not. It requires more programmes to give families living in poverty help to climb out of it, it requires investing in education and also giving children living in poverty an equal chance in education, and making sure they start on even footing with the peers. It also means making progreess in changing the minimum wage to a living wage, ensuring that everyone can survive on minimum income, making sure that everyone gets a decent income for their work.

Free child care is also a must to help fight child poverty, this would allow more people to get into work if they have young children, of course they should not be forced into work, and forced to sue the free child care. However it should be there for those who do want to work.

As I said earlier, the progress that has been made so far is good, however the ambitious goals set by the government, mean that ambitious and radical policies are needed, if this Labour government is to eradicate child porverty, which would be an amazing legacy for any social democratic government.