More money for child poverty pledge

from IC Wales

The greatest beneficiary of Alistair Darling’s tax raid on drivers and drinkers are likely to be children living in poverty.

The child element of the tax credit system is going up £50 a year, and a planned increase in child benefit to £20 a week for the first child is being brought forward a year to April 2009.

Those changes would leave families with two children and a household income below £28,000 more than £130 a year better off at a cost to the Exchequer of £340m.

And from October next year, parents’ income from Child Benefit will be disregarded when calculating Housing and Council Tax Benefits, saving a working family with one child on low incomes £17 a week.

Mr Darling said the reforms would lift up to 250,000 children out of poverty and maintain progress towards the Government’s goal of halving child poverty by 2010 – and eliminating it altogether by 2020.

A Commons select committee and economic experts have warned that the 2010 target would be missed without a major new investment.

Ann Clwyd, the MP for Cynon Valley and one of 76 Labour MPs to sign a letter at the weekend calling for action, said, “Tackling child poverty is also about tackling deprivation in communities and improving education and opportunity. This Labour Government is continuing to do all of those things.”

Huw Lewis, the AM for Merthyr and Rhymney and the chair of the Child Poverty Expert Group in the Assembly, said around 25,000 Welsh children would be lifted out of poverty, bringing the overall figure down to 145,000, as a result of the Budget.