Thinktank warns of rise in number of children living in poverty
Almost two million more children than now will be in poverty at Christmas in fifteen years' time, according to a highly-critical thinktank analysis of Government policies.
Projections by the socialist Fabian Society and Landman Economics showed significantly wider inequality by 2030 than they had expected before the general election.
It suggested a family 10% off the bottom of the income distribution would expect to earn only another £90 a year - a rise of 1% - while those the same distance from the top would be 25% better of with an extra £1,600.
%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar-family-stories%Cuts falling disproportionately on single parents meant the number of children living in poverty would rise from 2.5 million (19%) to £4.4 million (28%), it said - far higher than was anticipated under the previous coalition government.
That would include another 800,000 in "absolute" poverty - below a set benchmark representing the necessary income to afford the basics of life.
Fabian Society general secretary Andrew Harrop said: "If decisions made this year go unchanged, more British children will be hungry at Christmas 2030 than today.
"We will live in a country where food banks are an entrenched part of everyday life, not a response to short-term crisis. Is that the gift we want to leave the next generation?
"In the 15 years up to 2009 the incomes of rich and poor increased in proportion to each other because the Labour government chose to share the proceeds of growth.
"In contrast, the current government has chosen to cut taxes for people near the top of the income distribution and cut social security for people at the middle and bottom."
