This year's Budget lacks a clear anti-poverty strategy for children and the ever-growing divide between basic standards of living for those on welfare and those in work, Mr Hugh Frazer of the Combat Poverty Agency said yesterday. An analysis by the agency says consideration must be given to areas where the Government's National Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS) targets have not been set.
The agency estimated the net gain for a welfare-dependent child on the lowest rate of payment at just 28p per month. Mr Frazer said that such a modest increase in child income support would not impact on child poverty. Social welfare payments provided in the Budget might not keep up with general living standards, and many social welfare recipients might experience a greater relative poverty. The rate of increase is based on an assumption of 2 per cent inflation this year, he said, which "could easily prove to be an underestimation".