About the Child Poverty Commission

With one in five children in Milton Keynes living in poverty last year*, the Child Poverty Commission was formed to gain a better understanding of the nature of poverty in Milton Keynes.

The aim of the work work was to help local communities by looking at how support such as debt, benefits and careers advice can be best targeted.


The commission explored the issues raised in the Milton Keynes Child Poverty Needs Assessment 2011 which examined the nature, extent and consequences of child poverty in Milton Keynes.

Key questions they looked at were:

• What the barriers are that stop families getting a better income now, as well as how to reduce the chances of children growing up to be poor adults.
  
• What the difficulties are that families on low incomes face and how these might be overcome.
  
• How local services could work better together to help families and improve people's opportunities for employment.
  

* Source: End Child Poverty

Membership

Chair of the Commission, Naomi Eisenstadt, former director of the government's Sure Start Unit and Social Exclusion Task Force, was joined by representatives from local organisations including Milton Keynes Council, MK College, Community Action MK, Job Centre Plus, MK Community Foundation, the business sector and parish councils.

Read more about the members here

What's happening nationally to tackle child poverty?

At national level, the government has carried out an independent review into child poverty resulting in the following reports:

• The Foundation Years: preventing poor children becoming poor adults - The Report of the Independent Review on Poverty and Life Chances
• Early Intervention: The Next Steps.

They offer a range of actions that can be taken to ensure today's children living in poverty do not grow up to be poor adults raising the next generation of poor children.

In April 2011, the government adopted these recommendations in A New Approach to Child Poverty: Tackling the Causes of Disadvantage and Transforming Families' Lives. Similar themes are covered in Opening doors, breaking barriers: A strategy for social mobility, April 2011, which aims to ensure that the circumstances of children's backgrounds should not prevent them from fulfilling their potential.