[UK] 'Radical rethink' on child poverty in Wales

from E Politix

The Welsh Assembly Government has promised a "radical re-think of policy" in order to achieve its goal of ending child poverty by 2020.

Deputy minister for social justice and regeneration Huw Lewis unveiled an ambitious set of interim targets for poverty reduction on Monday.

At present one in four children in Wales are described as living in poverty - in a home where the income is below 60 per cent of the median income for similar households.

Ministers hope to cut that figure from its current level of 28 per cent to 17 per cent by 2010/11, and by 2020 to have matched the lowest child poverty rate in Europe.

To do this it has proposed a range of measures - including helping 14,000 lone parents into employment by 2016 - which it is estimated would take 20,000 children out of poverty.

Launching the new targets, Lewis said: "Nothing can be more important than eradicating child poverty.

"It is central to all of the Welsh Assembly Government's priorities and impacts on every portfolio.

"Although we have made good progress and seen a 21 per cent reduction since 1999, it is clear that to achieve our 2020 goal we need a radical re-think of policy across the assembly government."

He added that the targets and milestones "will be subject to change, depending on their usefulness", but insisted the overall aim "will remain as one of the most important goals we have ever set".