We can’t be serious about equality if we aren’t committed to ending child poverty

By Alexandra Kemp

Last October, armed with a placard I’d made bearing the legend, “The Fabian Women’s Network supports Labour’s pledge to End Child Poverty”, I marched with the Child Poverty Action Group, Save the Children and hundreds of other children’s charities through Central London. In Trafalgar Square, we stopped and made as much noise as we could so it could be heard in Downing Street. It was, and on 20th July the Child Poverty Bill reached its second reading in the House of Commons.

So what will the Bill do and can you really legislate to abolish poverty?

You can, and Labour is. Government is courageously binding itself to meet a relative child poverty indicator – 60% of equivalised median income – a tricksy target which will keep itself and future Governments running to keep up with the moving goalposts. The net effect of widening income gaps is to put goods and services which the rest of the population sees as necessities below the reach of poorer families.

Then there is the material deprivation target. If a child lives in a home where the choice is between heating the house or eating a cooked meal, where there is no money to go on a school trip, afford a computer to do homework on, or buy a birthday gift for a friend’s party (meaning the child may not go), then that child misses out on the experiences and opportunities that other children take for granted.

Then there is the target to end persistent poverty, where children affected are more likely to be excluded from school.

But there is an empathy gap to close with regard to the public and the media around child poverty. We can win the consensus by being honest about what child poverty means, its cost to human lives, to the Treasury and to society in the round and the imperative of addressing this in the fairness stakes. This is a debate which is central to what Labour stands for, to our sense of purpose. We can’t be serious about equality if we aren’t committed to ending Child Poverty.

It is also about solidarity, social cohesion, about reconnecting socio-economic groups at an empathetic level. Fabian research shows people who do not live in social housing and who do not know anyone who does, are less likely to see social housing residents as being like them or as deserving of state help. We need to create and celebrate strong images of ordinary people. So the organisation I run is planning a campaign with the Child Poverty Action Group to celebrate the contribution of ordinary parents with disabled children who live in poverty.

Here are a few of our ideas on how we solve child poverty:

* Stop councils housing families in homes blighted by structural damp or inefficient, expensive and unenvironmental heating. Ban coin meters which charge the poor higher tariffs for power and heating.

* Build enough new homes to slash the waiting list. Bring every existing home up to the Decent Homes Standard.

* Filling housing estates with the most needy people and families has itself created milieux of perpetuated poverty. Construct social homes of a standard that all the community would like to live in.

* Design adequate play areas both for younger and older kids.

* Ensure all children have the space at home or close to where they live to do homework, use a computer or to practise a musical instrument, benefits which middle class children are more likely to enjoy.

* Start Sure Start Mark 2 for the over-5s, with mini-libraries on every social housing estate. Offer paid internships in the professions and Parliament to raise aspirations.

* Extend the ethos of Labour’s successful free swimming initiative for the under 16s to free theatre tickets for children, and the chance for every child to learn a musical instrument. The Bolivar Orchestra in Venezuela shows how participation in music-making in the structured environment of an orchestra improves outcomes for children from poorer backgrounds. Ending Child Poverty is about giving every child the tools to express herself – find a voice and develop a sense of self.

* Provide a Credit Union in every area for neighbourhood finance, affordable credit, and an end to extortionate credit and loan sharking. Poorer families pay more for poorer financial services than the rest of the population. People without bank accounts cannot access cheaper direct debit deals and often have to pay more for home insurance.

* Site light industrial units in workless areas to bring in work, locate employment training where people live and bring more retail units to bring in jobs, providing more competition and lower prices to poorer areas.

* As the Government struggles to get to grips with the financial crisis, a comprehensive proposal for a new ‘Post Bank’ to run as part of the Post Office.

Please do add your own ideas below.