The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published research which says that child poverty is imposing a large cost on taxpayers and reducing the UK’s economic potential.

The report estimates that:

• Public spending to deal with the fallout of child poverty is about £12 billion a year, about 60 per cent of which goes on personal social services, school education and police and criminal justice.
• The annual cost of below-average employment rates and earnings levels among adults who grew up in poverty is about £13 billion, of which £5 billion represents extra benefit payments and lower tax revenues; the remaining £8 billion is lost earnings to individuals, affecting gross domestic product (GDP).

The conclusion is that child poverty costs the country at least £25 billion a year.

The report can be downloaded from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website.