Ending severe child poverty

With the government committed to their goal of ending child poverty by 2020 there are concerns that policy has not reached those families in the most severe poverty. A focus on severe poverty, in terms of persistence and depth of poverty, will add a critical dimension to our understanding.

The report:

• discusses different measures of severe poverty and related concepts;
• argues that any strategy tackling severe poverty will need to focus heavily on financial support for those outside the labour market, and policies to assist people sustainably back into the labour market;
• demonstrates that looking at severe poverty should focus policy-makers on a wider set of issues including: the use of minimum standards, 100% targets, promoting take-up of financial support and services, evaluating the role of service providers, and addressing the divide between policy-makers and the experience of the most disadvantaged.

This is one of seven reports sharing the Roundup 'What will it take to end child poverty in 2020?'