Austerity is being exploited to drive through budget cuts and reforms which are denying children their basic human rights, according to a major new report, backed by more than 60 organisations and experts, being released today.
The State of Children’s Rights in England report accuses the government of using “economic pressures” to “justify not only a serious erosion of children’s economic and social rights, such as health, food and the right to play, but also fundamental changes to our justice system.”
Welfare reforms driven by austerity, combined with rising prices and low wages, have resulted in children suffering “severe deprivation.”
Hundreds of thousands more children are living in poverty compared to a year ago – the total number is predicted to reach three million by 2015 .... http://www.independent.co.uk
