‘Seismic shift 
needed’ in 
tackling UK 
poverty toll

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is warning that a third of all children and nearly a quarter of working-age adults are forecast to be living in poverty by 2020, and that successive Government efforts have not been good enough.

The York-based charity has called for the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to be required to monitor and forecast levels of poverty, and says the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission (SMCPC) should have its remit extended to hold the government to account for its record on poverty, across all age groups.

The plans are outlined in a UK without Poverty report published yesterday ahead of the three main party conferences calling for a major change in the nation’s approach. It warns that overall levels of poverty are similar now to what they were 25 years ago.

Child poverty is said to cost the country £29bn a year and the foundation claimed current poverty levels are a waste of human potential and a strain on the public purse. The foundation stressed stagnant wages and benefits, the rising cost of living means poverty is forecast to rise.

Chief executive Julia Unwin said: “If we don’t act poverty is likely to increase: the parties’ manifestos are the last chance to stem the rising tide of poverty before 2020.

“We need governments to adopt proper strategies to address poverty in the UK – not simple lists of policies, with no road-map to its eradication.

“A seismic shift needs to happen – we have to move from treating the symptoms of poverty to fundamentally tackling its causes. This shift needs to happen now and requires political consensus, commitment and ambition.”

She said efforts to cut poverty should involve Government, business, individuals, business, markets, civil society and communities.