Britain's War on Poverty

7. The Next Steps for Britain

Chapter 7 The Next Steps for Britain a decade after Prime Minister Tony Blair declared war on child pov­ erty in March 1999, ending child poverty continues to be an aspi­ ration of the British government. What is the status of the antipoverty campaign? Who are the remaining poor children, and looking ahead, what further reforms might help move them out of poverty? the StatuS of the BritiSh antipoverty campaign The British record of achievement in reducing child poverty over the past decade is both exhilarating and sobering. On the one hand, the British government’s success in halving child poverty in absolute terms is truly an accomplishment to celebrate—and one for other countries to emulate. But on the other hand, Britain has failed to reach its target of halving child poverty in relative terms, although it has reduced relative poverty in a period when, judging from the evidence from peer European countries, it would otherwise have risen. Indeed, it is remarkable for the British to have made any progress in reducing relative poverty given that the econ­ omy continues to generate inequality—which, all else being equal, would increase relative poverty unless something offsets it. Nevertheless, British reformers are keenly aware that, on both the ab­ solute and relative measures, many British children continue to be poor. If Britain is to come close to its target of ending child poverty by 2020, a cru­ cial question for British reformers—and those seeking to learn from their experience—is whether building on the past decade’s efforts will be suffi­ cient to end child poverty, or whether new strategies are needed. It is important that, in thinking about this question, we take the political context into account. A national election must be held no later than May 2010, and as of late 2009 the Conservative Party was favored to win. Thus, in assessing the status of the British antipoverty campaign, it is important to take into account the views of both the Labour Party and the Conserva­ tive Party (as well as the third major party, the Liberal Democrats). Britain’s war on poverty 146 It is also important to take into account the fiscal challenges that will face whichever party is in office. Britain, like the United States, has been severely affected by the worldwide financial crisis and recession, and whoever is elected in 2010 will face hard choices when it comes to public spending, as well the challenges associated with increases in unemploy­ ment and underemployment. The coming decade will be a difficult one in which to combat child poverty, whether the goal is ending it or very sub­ stantially reducing it. Yet both the Labour and Conservative Parties (and the smaller Liberal Democrat Party) say that they are committed to this goal. The Labour gov­ ernment has filed legislation enshrining this commitment in law, and Conservative (and Liberal Democrat) members of Parliament have spo­ ken in favor of the goal, even though they have objected to some of the specifics of the legislation. What types of policies are the two main parties proposing for the next decade? Although neither party has spelled out all the details of their pro­ posals, some general principles have emerged. The consensus within the Labour government is that, to make further progress on child poverty, new approaches are needed. In the words of a 2008 interdepartmental review: “To reach 2020 . . . means exploring inno­ vative policy approaches for the next decade that address the fundamen­ tal causes of poverty and will have a long­term and sustainable impact.”1 In part, this interest in new approaches is a reflection of changed public attitudes toward welfare and the poor.2 When the Labour Party came into office in 1997, after nearly two decades of Conservative government, there was widespread public support for expanding the welfare state and pro­ viding more generous benefits for the poor. Over the next decade, as the Labour government expanded programs and made benefits more gener­ ous, these attitudes changed. From the vantage point of 2006 (the latest year for which public opinion data are available), there was less reason than there had been in 1997 to assert that the welfare state needed further expansion or that benefits were inadequate. At the same time, the increase in in­work supports and the strong labor market of the late 1990s and early 2000s made emphasizing employment a more viable option. Thus, it is perhaps not surprising that from 1997 to...