Child of the North/Centre for Young Lives have published a report that sets out an evidence-based plan to use the country’s education infrastructure to reduce the impact of child poverty on millions of children.
The report calls for the poverty battle to be taken ‘inside the school gates’, including a plan for Free School Meals to go to individual schools and nurseries in areas with the worst levels of child poverty.
The report highlights recent analysis of the data of over 60,000 children illustrating a link between poverty and the current school attendance crisis.
The report calls for:
- A new Government plan to support schools to reduce the impact of poverty as a first step of a national plan to reduce child poverty.
- A targeted programme of funding to support schools in those areas with the highest child poverty to coordinate services and support to reduce the impact of poverty on children.
- The targeted extension of universal Free School Meals in schools with high levels of child poverty.
- A Child Poverty Unit in No. 10 and a Government Poverty Tsar to drive improvements in education for disadvantaged children.
- A national Scientific Advisory Group for Children to ensure evidence, evaluation, and data-sharing lie at the heart of the programme.
The report can be downloaded from the Centre for Young Lives website, here.
dsga.org.uk 