Long term plan needed to tackle child poverty - minister

Gordon Lyons said the anti-poverty strategy is "realistic"

The minister for communities believes an anti-poverty strategy due to be published next month from his department is a "realistic" but long-term plan to tackle poverty.

Gordon Lyons made the comments after figures from the Department for Communities (DfC) suggested about 22% of children in Northern Ireland are growing up in poverty.

The figures also indicate that about 23% of children are in relative poverty and about 20% are in absolute poverty.

The Children's Commissioner for Northern Ireland, Chris Quinn, said these figures show a "failure" in the UK government and NI executive safeguarding children and their rights to "social and economical help" and "action is needed now".

A charity told Good Morning Ulster the number of people living in poverty in Northern Ireland "is almost as many as the entire population of Belfast.

What did figures show?

The DfC figures indicate that about 104,000 children (23%) are in relative poverty, a decrease of the 24% estimate in 2022/23.

But about 90,000 children (20%) are in absolute poverty, which is an increase of the 19% estimate in 2022/23.

The figures use two main measures of living standards: relative poverty and absolute poverty.

Minister for Communities Gordon Lyons said he believes the strategy due to be published is "something that's realistic" which "will require a long term plan".

"This will deal with the root causes of poverty ... and it will be a long term strategy ... this isn't about tinkering around the edges, poverty comes from some fundamental issues that people face ... there aren't any short term fixes," he told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

Lyons said people in NI have been waiting for this strategy "since 1998" and he has "made it a priority".

"I want a strategy that works and actually delivers for the people of Northern Ireland and actually has the by in of executive colleagues already. I'm not putting down something in front of them that is going to be different or fresh from what they've actually seen. Everybody has bought into this," he added.

Chris Quinn said the UK government and executive have not prioritised safeguarding children

Mr Quinn said: "This is absolutely scandalous. We are waiting the publication of an anti poverty strategy ... we need action."

"We need more (money), we need Westminster to make up for a lot of lost time here and also we need to use the money that we have better," he added.

Ursula O'Hare from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said child poverty is "not a new problem" but it isn't being dealt with.

"There was an opportunity, I think a missed opportunity in the Programme For Government (PFG) to have set poverty eradication as a key executive priority. That opportunity was missed but the anti-poverty strategy ... gives a fresh chance for the executive to really focus on what we can do early."

Ms O'Hare said the number of people living in poverty in Northern Ireland "is almost as many as the entire population of Belfast City and, if that isn't a wake up call for the executive, it's hard to think what might be."

She added that the executive need to work together and be "ambitious for the better".

"Change is possible ... it's about departments working together. Setting a very clear beacon that as a society, as an executive."

What is the anti-poverty strategy?

The anti-poverty strategy is a requirement inserted into the Northern Ireland Act, following the St Andrews Agreement in 2006.

There have been multiple court orders and legal challenges made as no strategy has been implemented in Northern Ireland.

In January, judgement was reserved in a recent legal challenge brought against Stormont for "failing to adopt" an anti-poverty strategy for Northern Ireland.

In March, Stormont's Executive Committee was found in breach of its legal obligation to adopt an anti-poverty strategy at the Royal Courts of Justice.

How is poverty measured?

There are two main measurements of low income used by the government. Income is counted as the money a household has to spend after housing costs are taken into account.

• Absolute poverty measures how many people this year cannot afford a set standard of living. The Department for Work and Pensions currently defines it based on the living standard an average income could buy in the year ending in March 2011. If your income is 40% below this, after adjusting for rising prices since then, you are classed as living in absolute poverty.

• Relative poverty is the number of people whose income is 40% below the average income today.

An individual is considered to be in relative poverty if they are living in a household with an income below 60% of the typical UK income.

This is a measure of whether those in the lowest income households are keeping pace with the growth of incomes in the population as a whole.