The Child Poverty Bill 2008-09 has been introduced into Parliament.

The Bill sets targets relating to the eradication of child poverty, and makes other provision about child poverty.

Key measures in the Bill include:

• placing a duty on the Secretary of State to meet four United Kingdom-wide income poverty targets by the end of the financial year 2020;
• placing a duty on the Secretary of State to publish a child poverty strategy evaluating progress towards the four income targets and setting out future action. The strategy, which is to be revised every three years, may make reference to measures which the devolved administrations propose to take to tackle child poverty;
• requiring the Government to ensure that the targets, once met, are met in later financial years, or to make provision about how to meet them if the targets have not been met by the financial year 2020 or any later specified year.

Further information is available on Parliament’s website.