Warwickshire News Mine

The report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a charity that examines the causes and solutions of social problems, estimates that 2.3million children will be in poverty in 2010, missing the government’s target of 1.7million set in 1999.

Defined as ‘when both parents are not working’, the incidents of child poverty in Warwickshire are well below the national average for a county.  There are, however, pockets in all districts and boroughs where there are super output areas (SOAs) where unemployment is high and the areas are among the highest 30% in the country in terms of economic deprivation.

Cllr Izzi Seccombe who also chairs the Warwickshire Children’s Trust Board, said:  “Warwickshire does not suffer the worst cases of child poverty, certainly not in comparison to other parts of the country.  However, one child living in poverty is one too many. 

“Warwickshire’s own child poverty strategy looks to address some of the barriers to families increasing their opportunities to work, either by providing children’s centres giving access to childcare or by providing training to improve employability.  Financial advice is available to enable families to better live within their budgets whilst advisers are targeting families who are not taking up all of the benefits available to them.

“The work we are carrying out brings together a range of partners who have contact with families of children living in poverty including Warwickshire Welfare Rights Advice Service, JobCentre Plus, Credit Unions and Citizens’ Advice Bureaux.  Their work will impact in the short term and in the long term by raising educational levels and changing the career expectations of people from these areas.

“And whilst the majority of SOAs where child poverty is more prevalent are situated in the urban areas, we appreciate that rural areas also have pockets of deprivation where poorer families do not have access to cheaper shops or to affordable public transport.  We are working on that as well.”

A Warwickshire-wide strategy to tackle child poverty was one of the recommendations made by the Children, Young People and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  The committee is meeting in April to discuss the progress of the strategy.

Cllr Richard Grant, chair of the scrutiny committee, said:  “We know that the life chances of children from families on low incomes are adversely affected including their health, educational attainment and future employment opportunities. 

“The child poverty strategy sets out Warwickshire’s vision for the reduction and later eradication of child poverty.”

Ends

Further details of the government’s report can be found by clicking on the following link.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7896085.stm

Link to WCC