Poverty forecast

Austerity policies are leading to a massive increase in poverty and inequality in European countries, causing damage that will take two decades or more to reverse, according to a report from Oxfam GB. It warns that 25 million more people could be pushed into poverty in Europe by 2020.

The idea that if poverty is relative it will always be with us is a common misconception, argues John Veit-Wilson. 'Relative poverty' can be abolished if no one has fewer resources than needed to achieve that society’s minimum standards.

Child poverty is set to increase significantly by 2020, according to new forecasts from the Institute for Fiscal Studies – wiping out the gains made under the previous Labour Government. By 2020 nearly one in four children will be living in poverty.

The IFS report was prepared at the request of the Northern Ireland Executive, and it includes separate projections for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and England and Wales (combined) as well as for the UK as a whole.

There is 'tremendous potential' for reducing global poverty in the immediate future, according to researchers at the Brookings Institution in Washington. But they also warn there is no magic ingredient for success, and that progress depends on a 'complex recipe' including better targeting of those in poverty.