Ending child poverty: a right or a responsibility?

a feature article by Stephen Crossley (Institute for Local Governance, Universtity of Durham) and Tracy Shildrick (School of Social Sciences and Law, Teesside University) published in Poverty Number 142 (Summer 2012)

This year the European Union will publish its Recommendation on Child Poverty. This is expected to be based on three ‘pillars’ – access to adequate resources, access to services and opportunities, and children’s participation – and to argue for a strong rights-based approach to eradicating child poverty.

In 2011, the current coalition administration published the first government child poverty strategy in the UK. At its heart, lies a commitment to ‘strengthening families, encouraging responsibility, promoting work, guaranteeing fairness and providing support to the most vulnerable’. Stephen Crossley and Tracy Shildrick explore these two very different approaches.

Full text (PDF 4pp)

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