Cable responds to JRF report showing rise in child and pensioner poverty

Britain is seeing the the first sustained rises in child and pensioner poverty for two decades, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's state of the nation report. The report warns poverty rates rose last year to 16% for pensioners and 30% for children – and that welfare cuts are reducing families’ financial breathing space. Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable commented: “This report sounds the death knell for Theresa May’s claim to be building a country that works for everyone. “Instead of tackling social injustice, the government’s policies are worsening inequality and hitting the poorest in society hardest. “The significant progress made recently in reducing child and pensioner poverty is now going into reverse, due to a growing squeeze on living standards combined with harsh welfare cuts. “With this kind of record, it’s little surprise that those leading the government’s Social Mobility Commission have quit. “Ministers must urgently end the freeze on working-age benefits before more children are pushed into poverty, and invest in building the affordable homes the country desperately needs.”