NIAPN’s Manifesto Ask: Put Kids First – Tackle Child Poverty

NIAPN launched its manifesto asks at its Annual General Meeting on 29 September. Through consultation with NIAPN’s members and the wider civil society, we have decided to focus on Child Poverty.

It is well evidenced that early intervention and investment in our children is the most impactful way to target society-wide issues of poverty.

Currently, children are disproportionately impacted by poverty – this is particularly true in lone parent households and in those with a member who is disabled. Therefore, NIAPN is asking every political party and politician to put the spotlight on child poverty and commit to policy interventions that will make a material difference in the lives of thousands of children here.

The keynote speakers at the NIAPN AGM spoke to the real impact of child poverty on children’s health and educational outcomes, as well as the impact on their families. Our panellists included Dr. Ray Nethercott, Paediatrician and member of the RCPCH, Gavin Doherty, principal at Holy Family Primary School in Derry, and Amie Gallagher, coordinator of the Focus Project at Rath Mór, who has organised a uniform pop-up shop for the past 5 years.

NIAPN has been clear that Stormont must publish a funded cross-departmental Anti-Poverty Strategy that has clear, measurable targets and regular monitoring that includes the voice of people with lived experience of poverty.

The Executive should commit to reducing Child Poverty by 50% by enacting an Anti-Poverty Act that will place an explicit duty on public bodies to reduce child poverty.

To realistically move the dial on tackling child poverty, the government must invest in 3-4 headline policies that increase income for households with children and decrease expenditure. To this end, NIAPN is recommending:

Call on our MLA’s to do better and commit to prioritising our children.