'Poverty is not inevitable,' NICCY stands in solidarity at Stormont steps, calling for the end of child poverty.

NICCY's Head of Policy and Participation, Alex Tennant, joined child and poverty-focused organisations to call for more government action to address the critical need for a long-term strategy to eradicate poverty. Read Alex's statement.

The most recent government statistics show that one in four children (25%) are currently living in poverty. This means over 100,000 children in NI going without basic necessities, because their parents can’t afford them. The impact on children’s lives is enormous, impacting on their education, health outcomes, opportunities for play, social inclusion, and their future life chances.

But it is important to be clear that poverty is not inevitable – the poor do not necessarily need to ‘always be with us’. Governments can act to lift children out of poverty – indeed, we have seen government action lift millions of pensioners out of poverty in the past. Indeed, we have seen government poverty plunge millions of children into poverty too. Over the last 10 years, through austerity and ‘welfare reform’ cuts.

The good news is that we are at a historic moment in relation to tackling the scourge of poverty on children’s lives. Over the forthcoming months we will see a local Anti-Poverty Strategy published and implemented and a UK Child Poverty Strategy. Both governments, with access to all the policy levers that need to be engaged, are looking at child poverty. At this historic moment, it is time for ambition, determination and cooperation to end child poverty.

The UK Child Poverty Strategy must focus on a radical rethink of the social security system, returning it to its original principles as a safety net for us all, protecting the vulnerable and ensuring that no one is living in poverty.

The NI APS must also focus on raising incomes and take a lifecycle approach, with a major focus on children. We are concerned that in the recent statements on the development of the APS, there has been a move away from a lifecycle approach to one which appears to focus more on ‘helping people help themselves out of poverty’. We need to know what children are supposed to do to ‘help themselves out of poverty.’

The Strategy must contain new, ambitious actions that will lift people out of poverty and must be fully costed and resourced. It must take account of the lived experiences of people in poverty, engaging them in developing the actions and being accountable for their delivery. For children, we need to see the following:

• A new weekly Child Payment for all children in poverty (starting at ￡20).
• Restoring values of social security benefits to pre-austerity levels.
• Reduce family outgoings – make education and travel free for children.
• Provide accessible, affordable, high quality, flexible, sustainable childcare to families.
• Target interventions to children with additional vulnerabilities.

Bearing in mind that the UK Poverty Strategy will likely result in ‘Barnett Consequential,’ additional funding for NI, it is essential that this is ringfenced by the NI Executive and used to fund new actions to end child poverty.

Concluding with the words of Nelson Mandela: ‘Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.’

We continuously support the work of the organisations that attended the rally -

NICVA (Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action) , Trussell , Action for Children (NI) Barnardo's Northern Ireland Children in Northern Ireland , Children's Law Centre Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Anti-Poverty Network, Northern Ireland Youth Forum, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) , Save the Children UK

Visit our website https://www.niccy.org/