Child Poverty Bill

I, too, support this amendment because I want to see my Government or an alternative Government after the general election continuing to commit to the eradication of child poverty. That is what this amendment seeks to do. That commitment should be made whether this is the right format or whether my noble friend might suggest that there is some other way of approaching it. We all know why it is difficult, particularly since 2004. Most of the tests of child poverty are relative; most of the children who are poor are on benefits; benefits increase by prices; and the wealth of the country increases by wages. The only way in which you can reduce that gap over time and ensure that more children are above the poverty line is to see benefits rise not only in line with earnings but faster than earnings. However, that then brings the dilemma over how attractive work is for those who are unskilled, in large families and low paid. That is part of the juggling act that any member of a Government has always to seek to respond to. Any way of lifting children on benefits above the poverty line has implications for the effectiveness of encouraging people into the labour market if they are very poorly paid. The only way in which you can address that is to increase tax credits to make their pay worth more, whereupon you raise the standard of average median earnings and more children come below the line. It is almost like a spiral. It is very difficult to resolve, as I think we all understand. That is why I was pleased that the noble Lord, Lord Freud, did not attribute it to any negligence of government but rather to a reflection—I am afraid—of the economic prosperity that we have enjoyed, in which we have seen wages soar ahead of cost/price-linked benefits. Even if this amendment cannot address and resolve that problem—it is one of those where you are continually keeping these three considerations juggled in the air—it would at least focus the mind of any Government, any civil servant and the commission on seeking to drive forward to meet that target. In so far as the noble Lord’s amendment would help this Government, or any Government, to progress that, I hope that my noble friend will support it.