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2.7 Conclusion: The impact of tax, tax credit and welfare changes on children’s
rights
This section has looked at the likely impact of tax, tax credit and welfare benefit
reforms between 2010 – 2015 on levels of child poverty, and has analysed the
distributional impact of reforms between families with and without children, families
with different levels of income, families with different ethnic backgrounds, and
families where there are disabled children 44 .
The introduction (section 1) set out two questions, “What impact have budget
measures had on children’s rights?”, and “Has the UK government devoted ‘the
maximum extent of available resources’ to ensure children’s rights are realised?”.
The UNCRC does not provide a specific benchmark for a standard of living adequate
for the child’s development. However, the analysis shows that as a consequence of
tax-benefit reforms, there is a substantial predicted increase in the number of
children living in income poverty, and children living below a ‘minimum income
standard’. This is a strong indication that there is likely to have been retrogression
in relation to children’s Article 27 right to an adequate standard of living as a
result of Government measures.
Of course, these are predicted changes and much depends on levels of economic
growth and how far children at the lower end of the income distribution benefit from
any growth.
In 2008, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the UK
“Adopt and adequately implement the legislation aimed at achieving the target
of ending child poverty by 2020, including by establishing measurable
indicators for their achievement;
Give priority in this legislation and in the follow-up actions to those children
and their families in most need of support” 45
Recently published survey data shows no change between 2010/11 and 2011/12 in
the number of children living below the (relative) poverty line – largely as a result of a
decline in the median wage - but a two percent increase in absolute poverty 46 . This
data indicates that there has been no progressive realisation in children’s right
to an adequate standard of living since 2010.
UNCRC requires that children – and particularly disadvantaged children – are
protected from the adverse effects of economic downturns. Our analysis provides
no evidence that children have been protected in practice. The analysis of tax-
44 We have focused on the overall impact of tax-benefit reforms, with a particular focus on their impact
on family incomes. However, the way the reforms have been put into practice may well have
consequences for children’s rights. For example, see section 3 of the background paper for issues
around the design of Universal Credit – including the potential impact of making payments to a single
adult in the family, and of ceasing to pay housing benefit direct to landlords.
45 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations on the UK, 2008
46 Households Below Average Income (HBAI), Department for Work and Pensions, Statistical release,
June 13 th 2013
Office of the Children’s Commissioner: Child Rights Impact Assessment of Budget Decisions
June 2013 37