ATL comment on child poverty figures

“The Government’s failure to cut the number of children living in poverty in the UK is shameful. With 2.3 million children living in poverty in the UK, a new generation of children is getting used to food banks.

“Too many children are coming into school hungry, and too many parents are struggling to pay for school uniforms. But this Government conveniently forgets that most children living in poverty have at least one parent in work, and perpetuates the myth that poverty is due to unemployment, family breakdown, debt, drug and alcohol dependency.

“This Government is blighting the lives of a generation of young people who are too hungry to learn and struggle to do homework in cramped, poor quality housing, so are likely to fail to achieve their true potential.”