Social Security: Child Poverty
Debate between Baroness Bousted and Lord Katz
Lord Katz (Lab)
That is absolutely the case. Alan Milburn’s interim report set out starkly the real stickiness there. When young people do not go into work or finish a course of education or training, there is a stickiness that we need to combat. We are determined to stop failing our young people, our communities and our economy. That is why we commissioned the Milburn report and we await his final report and recommendations.
Baroness Bousted (Lab)
My Lords, the Government’s scrapping of the two-child limit will see half a million children lifted out of poverty. As 40% of the attainment gap is created before children start school and is driven by poverty, does my noble friend the Minister agree that the lifting of the two-child limit will raise attainment and hugely improve the life chances of children born into poor families?
Lord Katz (Lab)
My noble friend is absolutely on the button. This is about not just improving the lives of children in poverty but future-proofing our country, our economy and our society. We have taken the decision to pull the single biggest lever that we could to tackle child poverty. By this move alone, as my noble friend said, we will lift 450,000 children out of poverty by the end of this Parliament. Our child poverty strategy not only deals with the two-child limit but shows how we can boost families’ income through employment, drive down the cost of essentials so that parents can meet their children’s fundamental needs and give them the best start in life, and strengthen local support so that families can access vital services.