Public finds income standards for poor families unacceptable

Commenting on the findings of a Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which showed a two parent family with two children would need an income of £370 a week to afford the basket of goods needed for an 'acceptable' standard of living, Paul Dornan, Head of Policy for Child Poverty Action Group, said: "The poverty line is actually well below what British people say is an acceptable standard of living. It is shameful that 3.9 million of our children are living below the poverty line. We cannot have so many children growing up in conditions well below what British people say are acceptable.

"There is nothing inevitable about poverty. Other wealthy countries have far fewer children living in poverty, so we must all demand that the Government's promise to end child poverty is kept."