Getting On Track for 2020

Lifetime Opportunities, the government’s recently published Anti-Poverty and Social Inclusion Strategy for Northern Ireland has been in development since 2001, when the Assembly committed to reviewing the then current anti-poverty policy, New Targeting Social Need. This resulted in a commitment to develop a new strategy to tackle poverty in Northern Ireland.

Save the Children has welcomed the publication in November 2006 of the new Strategy, Lifetime Opportunities, as it represents a move in the right direction. Child poverty is prioritised within the Strategy and this has been accompanied by a strong commitment to prioritise child poverty in the Secretary of State’s announcement on the Comprehensive Spending Review. However we do not believe that, as it stands, the Strategy will deliver for children in poverty – this will depend on the development of policies and programmes that will tackle the root causes and impacts of child poverty. There is also a need to revisit the targets to ensure that they reflect the main issues affecting children living in poverty in Northern Ireland.