Paying the price of child poverty

Every child deserves a safe and happy childhood and the chance to reach their full potential.

Yet today, across Northern Ireland, 1 in 4 children are growing up in poverty.  That’s over 100,000 children.

It is important to remember that behind these statistics are real families and children. Families who are struggling to heat their homes, put food on the table and cloth their children.

Growing up in poverty has significant impact on children, not just in the immediate term but adversely affecting their long term physical and mental health and wellbeing, educational attainment and subsequent employment opportunities. It robs children of their childhood.

Action for Children’s new research models the impact a range of policy levers could have on child poverty levels across the UK. These levers include reform of social security and measures to increase income from employment and to lower housing costs.

The findings are clear.

Significant investment is needed in social security, supported by other levers to reduce child poverty.

Scrapping the two-child limit and benefit cap is the most cost-effective policy option to reduce child poverty and would have an immediate impact, but in itself it is not enough to eliminate child poverty. It must be accompanied by other policy levers. A benefits escalator, improving uptake of means tested benefits, delivering new homes for social rent and increasing income from employment all have a part to play.

The reward for investing is transforming the life chances of many children, lifting them out of poverty and enabling them to thrive. Alongside this there are significant economic benefits in the form of reduced demand on public services, decreased spending on welfare and increased tax revenue across the lifetime of these children.

Delivering ambitious progress in reducing the number of children growing up in poverty in Northern Ireland will require a cross-departmental approach and substantial investment but poverty has a price too – for children and their futures and for our economy.  The NI Audit Office has estimated the cost to the public purse of dealing with child poverty to be up to £1 billion per year.

We need to invest in our children. We can’t afford not to!

Angela Phillips is the Campaigns, Advocacy and Policy Advisor at Action for Children, NI

Action for Children commissioned Public First to model policy scenarios for reaching ambitious targets for lifting children out of poverty. In the context of the development of the UK Child Poverty Strategy, Action for Children, has produced clear evidence based research and ambitious asks that target child poverty. Read the research here.