How can policymakers measure progress on reducing child poverty? Committees to take evidence
The Government’s Child Poverty Strategy lacks targets. If we had them, what should they look like, and how should progress be monitored?
Meeting details
MPs on the Education and Work and Pensions Committees will continue their joint inquiry on the Strategy as they take evidence from academic experts including Baroness Ruth Lister, and advocacy groups.
The Government says its decision to remove the two-child limit on benefits for families will lift 450,000 children out of poverty when compared with forecasts.
However, in the previous session of the inquiry, the committees heard that removing the two-child limit will only halt the projected increase in child poverty over this Parliament, compared to if the policy was not reversed. Experts said they hoped the Government would want to go further to reduce child poverty.
The second panel of the session will look at how the strategy supports disadvantaged children's educational attainment. It is likely to cover topics including the expansion of free school meals and support with uniform costs, and look at whether more should be done to reduce the attainment gap between children in poverty and their peers in different areas of the country.