Poverty and social protection in Britain: policy developments since 1997

The goal of abolishing child poverty within a generation in Britain was set out by the New Labour government in 1999. It was pursued by means of promoting paid work, increasing selective benefits to make work pay and promoting prevention of some of the causes of poverty. Some progress was made but it fell far short of the target. The Coalition government formed in 2010 has maintained the broad goal and maintained parts of the previous strategy but it has modified policy in important respects. The policies and records of these governments are compared and the obstacles to reducing child poverty are discussed.