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Mother/child poverty linked 'exposed'

12/05/2008

Previously unpublished government statistics have proven the link between UK mothers' low income and child poverty, it has been claimed.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figures show that 70 per cent of child poverty in Britain is attributable to low-earning mothers.

According to women's rights organisation the Fawcett Society, which obtained the statistics, four out of ten children in poverty are from single mother households.

It claims lone mothers are twice as likely to live in poverty compared to couples with children.

Dr Katherine Rake, director of the Fawcett Society, said mothers in the UK were at a greater risk of poverty than in any other country in western Europe.

She explained that becoming a mother increase a women's risk of "moving into poverty".

"This means that child poverty and mother's poverty have common causes and common solutions," Ms Rake said.

"We will only succeed in ending child poverty when we address mother's inequality by ensuring they have access to equal pay, adequate benefits and freedom from discrimination."

The Fawcett Society, supported by Oxfam and the TUC, has launched a new campaign – Keeping Mum – to expose the links between women's poverty and child poverty.