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All children deserve equal support say child advocates

13 April 2005

Today sees a heartening reversal of the neglect of children's income needs in the last two decades, says Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG).

At last many low family incomes get an inflation catch-up, in the form of a healthy boost to Family Support payments under the new Working for Families package. But there's a catch. The poorest children will miss out on nearly half of this overdue top-up.

In a mean-spirited sleight-of-hand by the package's designers, the entire child-related component of core benefits will actually be deducted from the increase. Those 175,000 children affected will fall even further behind. "We know that the first five years set the blueprint for the wellbeing of a child for his or her lifetime. Research shows that when families struggle on inadequate incomes for even a year or two their children's life chances are often irrevocably damaged. Surely this is short-sighted penny pinching," says CPAG's Dr Nikki Turner. "A fairer, more visionary package would not have to cost more."

Moreover the poorest children still miss out on the Child Tax Credit in the name of work incentives. "Income support for children must not drop when parents fall on hard times," agrees family economist Dr Susan St John. "This package was clearly designed more to push parents into the workforce than to reduce child poverty. Why else would the poorest of the poor be left behind?" she asks.