Reaction: UN report on child wellbeing

from The Guardian

As a Unicef survey reports that children growing up in the United Kingdom suffer greater deprivation, worse relationships with their parents and are exposed to more risks from alcohol, drugs and unsafe sex than those in any other wealthy country in the world, we round-up reaction from the government, children's charities and political parties.

A government spokeswoman said: "Nobody can dispute that improving children's wellbeing is a real priority for this government. We recognise that Unicef does vital work in this area. But in many cases the data used is several years old and does not reflect more recent improvements in the UK such as the continuing fall in the teenage pregnancy rate or in the proportion of children living in workless households.

"We are working hard to improve all children's life chances and the report confirms that children's educational attainment at 15 in the UK compares well with many other EU countries. Great progress has been made but we know there is more to do to make sure that every child has the best start in life and has an equal opportunity to fulfil their potential."

Professor Jonathan Bradshaw, part of the research team from the University of York, acknowledged that the data used, mainly covering the period 2000-03, was not "completely up to date". But he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that it covered the "gamut" of factors related to children's wellbeing for the first time, taking in both administrative data and surveys of views.

Prof Bradshaw said the researchers were surprised that Britain came bottom on so many indicators. But added: "Children in Britain for a very long time have been under-invested in."

Colette Marshall, the UK director of Save the Children, said: "It is shameful to see the UK languishing at the bottom of this table. This report shows clearly that despite the UK's wealth, we are failing to give children the best possible start in life."

Bob Reitemeier, the chief executive of The Children's Society, said: "We simply cannot ignore these shocking findings. Unicef's report is a wake-up call to the fact that, despite being a rich country, the UK is failing children and young people in a number of crucial ways."

Kate Green, the chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: "Britain is making progress on child poverty, but the Unicef report card is an important reminder that we need to go further, faster. The report makes very clear that without addressing relative poverty the wellbeing of children in the UK will continue to suffer.

"We need a national commitment, shared by the public and politicians alike, to put the improvement of our children's quality of life and an end to child poverty at the top of the British political agenda. As a member of the End Child Poverty campaign, we are calling on the government to provide the £4billion extra annual investment needed to get back on track for the target of halving child poverty by 2010."

The shadow chancellor, George Osborne said: "This report tells the truth about Brown's Britain. After 10 years of his welfare and education policies, our children today have the lowest well-being in the developed world. The chancellor has failed this generation of children and will fail the next if he's given a chance. We need a new approach."

The Liberal Democrat children and family spokeswoman, Annette Brooke MP said: "It is shocking that we are doing so badly at bringing up our children. The shameful level of child poverty began under the Conservatives with massive income inequalities. Some progress has been made on this, but there is still a long way to go.

"We are guilty of placing too much pressure on our children by forcing them to start formal education so early and then subjecting them to constant tests and exams. Every child should be entitled to live in a stable, loving family environment. Effective measures are needed to address the early signs of family breakdown, which puts the interests of the child first. The government frequently says that 'every child matters', there now needs to be real commitment to turn those words into reality."