Child poverty targets will not be met, says Alan Milburn

advisor

Coalition urges increased investment in the early years of funding to keep the weight on the poor austerity measures

Alan Milburn, who advises the Coalition on child poverty is to have the case of the "significant investment" in the first year of funding, saying that there would be "of great economic benefits "for the countries with the poorest families who have most to gain.

He said the government should recognize that the goals of child poverty Britain does not comply and do more to prevent the poor bearing the brunt of austerity measures.

Speaking to The Guardian, before his first speech since his appointment, said it was "difficult decisions in public spending." "Money is not about what to cut, but what we must do to grow," he said. "That's why we give priority to the first year of spending."

Former Secretary of Health, which was considered a leader Blair, advocating a change in spending priorities - the shift from redistribution to the poor in targeted spending. "We must look to the Nordic countries, where a much higher proportion of spending on poor families end up going to the place of service cash benefits," he said. "We spend 0.5% in services, while Sweden spends about 2%. "

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work on child poverty has been a good year. Before the financial crisis, child poverty in Britain fell by more than any other OECD countries - which in 2005 was 10.5% against 17.4% in 1995. However, Milburn warns that child poverty will increase now. The government admitted its policies take 100,000 children falling into poverty by the year 2013.

• In his speech Tuesday, he said: "If we use the best known measure of the number of children living below a poverty line set at 60% of median household income, called measure of relative poverty, there are 2.6 million children living in poverty in our country. It's almost one in five of all children. If you take a narrower measure, those living in absolute poverty, 1.4 million children live in poverty. These figures should surprise and embarrass us all. This is especially true when one considers that under the self-same measure, child poverty in Britain is almost 10% higher than in countries like Denmark. "

In this period of austerity and uncertainty, he said, "if there is a strong dose of realism that does not have the possibility of social progress. In my view, the debate on child poverty today is used in a fog of fantasy and illusion, confusion and complexity. The fantasy is that the goal of eradicating child poverty by 2020, established by the work and approved by the coalition, in a sense, yet realized that the confusion is the current approach to the fight against poverty and mobility for speeding is stuck between the political agendas -. income distribution and opportunities create - that have been made to look like the enemy when they are actually friends "

In remarks addressed to Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said: "Many may see what happens - but nobody seems willing to reveal that the emperor has no clothing as long as this continues. be the case, you will not have a solid foundation to advance what they are ominous time to try it. "

Speaking on the BBC program on Radio 4 Today, Milburn urged the coalition to "tell the truth" and recognize that child poverty is deteriorating and the target Labour Administration to eliminate child poverty - defined as children living in households with incomes of 60% or below the national average - by 2020, would not be met. "The progress made over the last 10 years has stagnated in terms of child poverty," said Milburn. "Worse than that, progress has begun to reverse."

Milburn was based on the work of the OECD warned that progress in reducing child poverty in the UK has "stalled, and is now expected to increase, and social protection expenditure, so that families, particularly through the provision of services to families, as a long-term risk of poverty - must be protected "
has been a growing concern about the costs of child care in the UK - especially after the declaration of the Minister of Foreign Affairs that the spending of £ 1 billion of Tax Credits to help poor families. Many say that the cost of childcare is a barrier to employment for parents. Milburn said today: "The priority for the coming years should be children who are under five, where we know we can make a big difference," he said. "Child poverty falls, gets up social mobility in countries where there is no investment in childcare, early years services. "

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