One in Six Children Suffers Poverty in UK

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith admitted that the proportion of children living in relative poverty has not changed since 2011, when the country suffered the most direct effects of the 2008 economic crisis.

However Smith told the House of Commons that the levels of child poverty in the United Kingdom were the “lowest since the mid-1980s.”

To the contrary, human rights organizations argue that relative poverty levels among children have risen since 2011, arguing also that cuts in social welfare programs leave people in worse conditions still.

Smith argued that the government reforms to subsidies and social benefits focus on “making work pay” instead of relying on the state, while tax reform will allow Britons to save more.

Smith noted that the government remains “committed” to address the causes of poverty.

In the United Kingdom, children are considered to be living in relative poverty when the household income is 60 percent below the national average.