Elliott calls for action to address severe Child Poverty
Ulster Unionist MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone this week called for more to be done by the executive in addressing the ongoing problem of child poverty.
Mr Elliott noted “a recent Government report found that in Northern Ireland up to 120,000 children live in varying degrees of poverty. If we add to that the number of children who are deemed to be living in deprivation, the figure increases to 160,000.
“A start has been made: in the UK as a whole since 1999, 600,000 children have been removed from states of poverty. However, more needs to be done, including here in Northern Ireland. If government targets of halving child poverty by 2010 and eradicating it by 2020 are to be met, action must be consistent and not dip in and out of dealing with the matter.”
The local MLA went on to state that there was need for a focal point from which to start the campaign to eradicate child poverty.
“The figure of 120,000 children living in poverty in Northern Ireland drops by more than 50% if the target group changes from including children living in general poverty to those who live in severe poverty. When we shift the focus, the number of children in Northern Ireland whose situations require what we would term immediate action decreases to approximately 44,000.”
“Differentiating between levels of poverty does not take away from the overall problem. However, if we were to make such a differentiation, the Assembly and Executive could execute a more strategic plan to help those who are in the most immediate distress.
“There have been several failings in the Government’s attempts to deal with child poverty. For example, they failed to reduce the number of children who are in severe poverty, with one in five children in the UK still living in a persistently poor household. I wonder how many people in the wider community know what it is like for those children and households who live in poverty. Do those children sometimes have to go without the basic essentials of life such as the food and clothing that many in our community take for granted? The issue demands action and must be addressed before more children find themselves in poverty stricken states of living.”