{"id":58636,"date":"2015-07-01T12:50:55","date_gmt":"2015-07-01T12:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=20789804af589f75c467bc550f9fcda8"},"modified":"2015-07-01T12:50:55","modified_gmt":"2015-07-01T12:50:55","slug":"press-release-government-to-strengthen-child-poverty-measure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=58636","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Government to strengthen child poverty measure"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The government will introduce a new and strengthened approach to tracking the life chances of Britain\u2019s most disadvantaged children, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, announced today (1 July 2015).<\/p>\n

Improving people\u2019s life chances will be central to the government\u2019s \u2018one nation\u2019 approach to the next 5 years and ministers want a much more effective measure focused on the real causes of poverty.<\/p>\n

The current child poverty measure \u2013 defined as 60% of median income \u2013 is considered to be deeply flawed and a poor test of whether children\u2019s lives are genuinely improving. <\/p>\n

This was shown when the number of children in poverty went down significantly as the economy shrank during the recent recession, when in reality there was little change to those children\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

The government will bring forward legislation to correct that with new measures focused on levels of work within a family and improvements in education attainment, 2 key areas in terms of improving social mobility.<\/p>\n

The Secretary of State, Iain Duncan Smith said:<\/p>\n

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Eradicating child poverty is an absolute priority for this government, and I have consistently argued that it is not enough to tackle the symptoms without also tackling the underlying causes.<\/p>\n

The measures announced today are the foundation of a new, comprehensive way of addressing poverty and reflect our conviction that work is the best route out of poverty.<\/p>\n

Our new approach will drive effective government action by focusing attention on making meaningful change to children\u2019s life chances.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

New legislation to replace the Child Poverty Act 2010 will use: <\/p>\n