Coram's Charter for Children

by Dr Carol Homden CBE

A call for change for the next generation

Today we, Coram, the country’s first and longest serving children’s charity, are proud to launch the Charter for Children, calling for a realignment of the social contract between society and its children and young people through a ‘triple key’ of financial commitments from government designed to give them a just settlement.

The Charter sets out a route map for change for the coming decade and beyond, arguing that just as the triple lock on pensions introduced in 2010 has built economic security into the system for older people, we now need to give the youngest in society similar levels of security.

Taken together, the estimated cost by the end of the decade of the proposals set out is put at between ￡16.2 billion and ￡17.7 billion per annum at current prices, between 0.6 and 0.7% of our joint national income and significantly less than a penny in the pound. The total cost would build up progressively over time so the average annual increase in public spending would be in the region of ￡2 billion per annum.

At today’s launch event at House of Commons, hosted by Floella Benjamin and Edward Timpson, we also published the prospectus for the Coram Institute for Children, a research centre dedicated to finding evidence-based solutions to the challenges facing children and young people in policy, law and practice.

The Institute will play a key role in working to fulfil the goals of the Charter.

For most children today, life is significantly better than it was when Thomas Coram set up this charity in 1739. However, through our day-to-day work and a range of metrics it is clear to us that decades of progress have stalled and even gone into reverse. We are the first generation in a long time unable to state with confidence that life is getting better for children and young people.

But it doesn’t have to be like this – change is possible. The Charter sets out what we believe to be the fundamentals to ensure that we nourish, educate and give stability to all of our children and young people and ensure their rights are upheld. Its proposals are fully costed. We have rightly committed to delivering security to older generations through the pensions triple lock. It is time that we afford the same security and protection to the next generations too.

The Charter document and the supporting financial costings, can be found online at www.coram.org.uk/charter

Better chances for children, now and forever.

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