Without urgent action, the number of children living in poverty in the UK will increase as more families struggle to cope with the recession.
Today, 3.5 million children live in poverty in the UK. That’s one in three. This is one of the highest rates in the western world. Growing up in poverty has a real impact on children’s health, education, aspirations and well-being, yet children on their own can do little about it.
The effects of child poverty have been estimated to cost the UK £25 billion each year. Without urgent action, the number of children living in poverty in the UK will increase as more families struggle to cope with the recession.
In 2008, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said that the UK Government must do more to change the high rates of child poverty. UNICEF UK is calling on the Government to make sure they spend enough money to end child poverty by 2020 in order to uphold the rights of all children in the UK.