Cuts risk child poverty, UK children’s commissioners say
BBC News | July 1 2015
The government should end its planned cuts to benefits to prevent more young people falling into poverty, the four UK children’s commissioners have said.
The commissioners for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland said child poverty was “unacceptably high”.
In a report to the United Nations, they said government austerity measures had failed to protect the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
Ministers said relative poverty was at the lowest level since the mid-1980s.
The commissioners’ review of government policies since 2008 comes a week before Chancellor George Osborne delivers a Budget in which he is expected to set out further details of proposals to cut £12bn from the welfare bill.
Their report highlights the policies adopted by the coalition government in response to the global financial crisis, as well as the expected cuts under the new Conservative administration.
