In 1999, Britain had the worst child poverty record in the EU. Ten years ago, the UK Government announced plans to halve child poverty by 2010 and eradicate it completely by 2020 – an ambitious but commendable goal agreed by each of the devolved governments of the United Kingdom.  However, with figures showing that as a nation we are significantly short of meeting the half way goal, and the most recent poverty and inequality statistics for Scotland (for the year 2008-09) revealing that the number of children living in poverty has increased, claims have been made that progress on plans are stalling.

So, how far have we really come and how far do we still have to go? 

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210,000 = number of youngsters identified as living in relative poverty in 2008-09.
10,000 = the increase  in children living in poverty from the previous year
Source: Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2008/09, Scottish Government statistics

600,000 children = estimation of how short we are of meeting the 2010 target, according to national projections

10 = years left to eradicate poverty in the UK if the goals set in 1999 are to be achieved