Children Short of Food & Clothing

One in ten children in England, Scotland and Wales live in homes so poor
they will go without a coat, a pair of shoes or even a hot meal this winter,
a major children's charity has revealed.

Save the Children has found no real improvement in the number of children
living in severe and long-term poverty since they reported in 2003 that up
to a million were in dire need.

And unless urgent action is taken the government is on course to miss its
target of ending child poverty by 2020, claims the report out today.

Families in severe long term poverty are getting by on about £132 a week
sometimes for years on end, said the charity.

They are less likely to afford new clothes, replace worn out furniture, and
eat meat or fish every other day, the report found.

The poorest families find it very difficult to save more than £8 a month and
two-thirds of children in long-term poverty had parents who were unable to
save anything in a year.

Save the Children Chief Executive Jasmine Whitbread said: "People find it
difficult to accept there is poverty in Britain. But the reality is one in
ten children are experiencing severe poverty - that means going without a
winter coat, a pair of shoes or a hot meal and with little hope of doing
well at school."

The report, Britain's Poorest Children Revisited, calls on the government to
get an accurate picture of how many people need help by measuring severe
poverty.

It needs to help young families take up work and escape the poverty trap by
assisting with the cost of childcare and increasing Child Tax Credit for
large families, says the report.

The report also recommends the setting up of an independent minimum income
commission by the end of 2010 to set a bottom threshold below which no
family should fall.

John
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