News story

18th September 2002

Government Poverty Figures Hide The Reality

Commenting on the Government’s annual poverty figures, which claim to have lifted half a million children out of poverty since Labour came to power, Steve Webb MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said:

“Labour is still only scratching the surface of child poverty. The reality is that there are still about three times as many children living in poverty than there were in 1979.

“Nearly 4 million children remain in poverty. During the last election Gordon Brown claimed that his policies had taken 1.2 million children out of poverty. The truth is that the Government has achieved less than half of this. The figures are at odds with the New Labour rhetoric.

“The Government has been talking about changing the definition of child poverty to a more meaningful measure, but this must not be an excuse for watering down its targets. It must make a firm commitment to abolish child poverty in reality rather than by playing around with the figures.”

ENDS