4 Major report into child poverty in the UK

Barnardos report into child poverty http://www.barnardos.org.uk/poverty_full_report_07.pdf and a copy in the library at London Bridge. Criticism first: in my opinion, they overplay the emotive case studies. For example, one of the informants claims not to have enough to eat at times. I calculate that this person has a net cash income, after rent and other costs, of £108.10 per week. At Tesco’s, tins of beans cost 17p, tins of spaghetti 15p and a value white loaf is 28p. Therefore for just over a pound you could buy 2 tins of beans, 3 tins of spaghetti and a loaf. That’s food for 5 gut filling meals. Yes, its not a good diet etc but you don’t need to go hungry; frankly, if you are, then it’s your own bad management.
However, case studies aside, this report is a serious description and analysis of child poverty in the UK today. For example, section 3 discusses the often forgotten and difficult point that over half of children in poverty (52%) live in families where there is an adult in work. Child poverty is not primarily a product of non-working single mums. If you want an authoritative analysis of child poverty in the UK, then this report is a fine starting point, just don’t bother with the case studies.
Having been a bit mean about people managing their money, I readily admit there is genuine disadvantage out there. For example, the young carers described in the following article from the Guardian are truly disadvantaged http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,,2063731,00.html. This particular issue, of child carers, comes around every few years, where it is often linked to school non-attendance among girls, who are more likely to take time off school to care for others.