UK child poverty shame

S2M-5592 Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP) : Unicef Report on Child Poverty Shames UK— That the Parliament is ashamed to find that, according to UNICEF’s Report Card 7, Child Poverty in Perspective: An Overview of Child Well-being in Rich Countries,the United Kingdom has come last in a comparative examination of children’s well-being in 21 countries; believes that this report on child poverty, deprivation, quality of life, safety, health and behaviour is a terrible indictment of the failure of government policy in Britain; notes that, while other countries have made real progress on many fronts, the British government has fared particularly badly; notes that the countries of Scandinavia have fared far better and generally occupy the top places in the study because of their policies to redistribute wealth and the higher political priority given by their governments to children’s needs, and concludes that, if Britain is to be rid of this particular badge of shame, then improving children’s well-being in Britain must now become an urgent priority.

Lodged on 14 February 2007