"Labour lifted over half a million children out of poverty. But sadly it looks like this progress is being reversed.” 
Liam Byrne, 28 April 2011

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) warning last week that reductions in public spending could risk higher levels of child poverty has been seized upon by Labour, with the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne claiming that falls in child poverty under the previous Government were being reversed by “the Tory-led Government's policies.”

However Labour’s record on child poverty has proved a contentious issue, and Full Fact has previously found that it had both fallen and risen during the last Government’s time in office, depending upon the timeframe used.

So how sound is Mr Byrne’s analysis, and can the blame for any rise in child poverty really be set entirely at the foot of the present incumbent of 10 Downing Street?

The Government – in common with the EU – defines child poverty as children living in households whose income is 60 per cent below the national median. This is measured by the Department for Work and Pensions in its Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series, the most recent edition of which covers the 2008/09 financial year.

This shows that Mr Byrne is right to claim that there has been a reduction in the numbers of children in poverty of “over half a million” under Labour. Since 1997 the number of children in households below 60 per cent of median incomes has fallen by 600,000 from 3.4 million to 2.8 million in 2008/09.

However the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary is on shakier ground in claiming that this downward trend is only now being reversed by “Tory-led” policies.

Since child poverty levels reached a record low in 2005 the UK has actually seen slight rises. Before housing costs are accounted for, the number of children in poverty was 2.7 million in 2004/05, rising to 2.8 million in 2008/09. After housing costs are factored in the rise is more pronounced, increasing from 3.6 million to 3.9 million over the same period.

So whilst Liam Byrne is correct to identify a fall of some 600,000 in child poverty levels since 1997, the “reversal” of this downward trend could also have taken place under his Government’s tenure.