In the week before Brown becomes PM a new report reveals that UK families in severe poverty live on average of £7000 a year

A new report released today reveals the shocking fact that there are nearly 1.5 million children living in severe poverty in the UK, the 4th richest country in the world. For a couple with a child that means living on average of £7000 a year, or less than £134 a week. This is well below the national average income of £19,000 a year.

An income of £7000 means that a family has only £19 per day to cover electricity and gas, phones, other bills, food, clothes, washing, transport, health needs as well as activities for children and all other essential items. Save the Children believes it is an outrage that in such a wealthy country, parents are struggling to get by on such low incomes and children are missing out on basic things like living in a warm house, having a proper diet or going on a school trip.

The report is published a week before Gordon Brown becomes Prime Minister.

Child poverty has been one of Gordon Brown's flagship issues and he has repeatedly said that children will be at the heart of his Government's policy. However, current predictions show that the Government are way off track on meeting their targets of halving child poverty by 2010. Radical action by the new Prime Minister is needed to tackle

severe child poverty if they want to achieve this seminal target and give children in the UK the best possible start in life.

In his foreword to the report, Adair Turner said: "As a former Chair of the Low Pay Commission, I became aware of the blight that low incomes can have on many people's lives, including children, here in the UK. There are more than one million children living in families with incomes a long way short of the poverty line and lacking real basics. Save the Children has argued that the Government must direct greater resources towards this critical

group. The Government have taken important steps to target child poverty, but more action is needed, particularly to help those facing the most severe deprivation."

The report - Severe poverty in the UK - also reveals that:

• The region with by far the highest levels of severe poverty is London where more than 1 in 6 children are in severe poverty.
• 84% of families in severe poverty cannot make regular savings of £10 or more per month.
• 74% cannot replace any worn out furniture.

Using a new measure that

combines household incomes with adult and child deprivation, the report calculates that 10.5 per cent of children or 1.4 million live in severe poverty.

Jasmine Whitbread, Chief Executive of Save the Children, said: "We can't let these children slip below the radar. They're the children who are hardest to reach, need the most help and the greatest investment to lift them out of poverty. As part of the campaign to End Child Poverty, Save the Children urges the Government to tackle severe poverty now if it wants to stand a chance of meeting its target of halving child poverty by 2010."

Save the Children is calling on the Government to:

• Invest a further £4 billion to ensure that their target of halving child poverty by 2010 is met.
• Help those on low incomes cover expensive times of year with the introduction of seasonal grants.
• Implement an action plan on severe child poverty.
• Reform the social fund to ensure that it is an effective anti-poverty tool.
• They must:
  - Introduce a measure of severe child poverty and ensure policies are targeted at those in severe poverty
  - Invest significant resources to promote take up and knowledge of benefit and tax credit entitlments
  

Save the Children is also calling on the public to support its campaign to End Child Poverty by going to our website www.savethechildren.org.uk/endchildpoverty or by signing up in Save the Children shops.

For more information
For interviews, copies of the report or more information please contact Sophie Elmhirst on 020 7012 6403.

Notes to Editors

For more information on Save the Children's poverty campaign, go to: www.savethechildren.org.uk/endchildpoverty

Save the Children is part of the campaign to End Child Poverty: www.endchildpoverty.org.uk