Press Centre: Big Issue founder doubles down on efforts to add child poverty targets to Children’s Wellbeing Bill

Friday 09 January – A group of peers are set to try to force the government to introduce legally-binding child poverty targets, with members of the House of Lords again attempting to expand the remit of new legislation on children’s wellbeing to include greater scrutiny of state action to reduce child poverty.

Big Issue founder Lord John Bird has re-tabled his amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill at report stage, which starts from 14 January. It proposes placing a duty on present and future governments to set themselves statutory targets on reducing child poverty – similar to those already introduced by the Scottish Government.

Since introducing its ambitious target of reducing child poverty to just 10% of Scottish children, Holyrood has succeeded in achieving a 12% drop in relative child poverty since 2018, while rates have risen in England and Wales.

Despite this, the Labour government previously opposed Lord Bird’s amendment when the Bill was at committee stage in June 2025, arguing that statutory targets “do not serve as an effective means of binding government to a specific course of action”.

The recently published child poverty strategy was widely criticised by campaigners for not setting “an explicit numerical target” for reducing child poverty.

Lord Bird’s amendment is sponsored by Labour peer Baroness Ruth Lister, the Honorary President of Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), and the Bishop of Leicester.

John Bird said: “I am gifting the government a chance to right the wrongs of their recent strategy and introduce proper statutory targets for reducing child poverty.

“The absence of ambitious targets to propel forward this government’s mission to reduce child poverty is deeply concerning. In this challenging economic climate, there is every reason to worry warm words will not translate into tangible progress.

“Surely there is no greater threat to a child’s wellbeing than poverty. Any legislation that overlooks this fact is not worth its salt.”

Anna Feuchtwang, Chief Executive of the National Children’s Bureau, added: “Legally-binding targets to reduce child poverty will help turn political rhetoric into actual change in people’s lives. Either the government fulfils its manifesto pledge and holds itself accountable for creating a society where all children can thrive, or we risk child poverty continuing to rise over the next four years.

“Only by committing to long-term measurable goals can we prevent poverty being a political football and systematically address the root causes of poverty, provide better support for families, and lift children from the poverty trap that undermines them in almost every area of life.”

Back in October 2025, more than 60 celebrities, campaigners and children’s charities signed an open letter backing Lord Bird’s efforts to introduce child poverty targets for England and Wales. Signatories included the actor Emilia Clarke and presenters Chris Packham and George Clarke, as well as leading charities Barnardo’s, Amnesty and the Child Poverty Action Group.

Lord Bird’s amendment will be considered by peers at this final stage for the Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill, with report stage expected to continue into February 2026 and possibly beyond.

NOTES TO EDITOR

The Scottish Government’s landmark Child Poverty (Scotland) Act of 2017, which included the ambitious statutory targets of reducing child poverty to just 10% of Scottish children by 2030, incited a significant divergence in child poverty levels between the home nations.

Since 2018, Scotland saw a 12% drop in relative child poverty, while England and Wales saw a 15% rise – a 27-percentage point gap in progress. Where 21,000 Scottish children saw their poverty lifted between 2018 and 2024, 320,000 more English and Welsh children have fallen into poverty in that period.