Child Poverty Bill

My Lords, perhaps I could support this amendment. It is very important that one recognises that mental health problems, both for themselves and for their parents or other carers, are among the problems that children in the poorest families have. To have the word "health" here rather assumes physical health. Of course, technically a description of health would include mental health, but it does tend to be overlooked. It is a wise precaution to have it in here, in order to alert those who will be dealing with strategies to have in mind the mental health both of the children, and particularly, as the noble Lord, Lord Freud said, of the families. One of the elements of poverty is the very considerable mental health problems of the carers, often induced by drugs or drink.