Child Poverty Bill

My Lords, perhaps I can return to responding to the amendment. That exchange was illuminating; it is clearly on the record, and doubtless we will return to that from time to time. The Committee will be aware from the debate so far that the targets relate primarily to the household below-average income data series, which presents income collected from the Family Resources Survey. Household income is equivalised according to the number of adults and number and age of children in each household. That has been the established measurement for child poverty since the Measuring Child Poverty consultation in 2003, which found that low income is central to people’s perceptions of poverty. As we have argued a number of times in Committee, the targets set out in the Bill are a means for measuring success in tackling child poverty. However, that does not mean that our approach to addressing the barriers to child poverty will focus solely on income transfers or financial support. Clause 8 makes clear our intention to develop a sustainable approach to tackling child poverty, one that looks at the range of policy areas set out in Clause 8(5) and that seeks to ensure that we not only meet the child poverty targets by 2020 but maintain these target levels beyond that date, as required by Schedule 2. Relying exclusively on financial support measures will not ensure in the long term that children do not experience socio-economic disadvantage, nor will it address the intergenerational cycles of poverty in the way that the Bill seeks to do. The Bill enshrines in law the Government’s commitment to end child poverty by 2020. It defines success in meeting that goal and establishes an accountability framework to drive progress towards it at both national and local levels. The Bill is clearly about tackling child poverty, as the Long Title makes clear, and I see no reason why the Short Title should not reflect that. On that basis, I hope that the noble Lord will withdraw his amendment.