Poverty breakdown
Peter Kenway says the recession can’t be blamed for the poverty of working people. It has been getting worse for thirty years
With the next general election set to be the first in which poverty and what to do about it is a matter of open disagreement between the political parties, the New Policy Institute’s new annual Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion report offers both detailed evidence and an interpretation of that evidence against which the politicians’ claims and counter-claims can be judged. The Labour Party made much of the importance of dealing with poverty in both its 2001, and especially its 2005, election manifestos. But it was not until David Cameron became leader later that year that the Conservative Party took up the challenge. Labour’s now thirteen year record on poverty and social exclusion can be expected to come under close scrutiny.
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