World Leaders and Child Poverty

MORI research shows clearly that the British public believes that child poverty can be beaten, and they want world leaders to do more.

MORI research shows clearly that the UK public believes that child poverty can be beaten -- and they want world leaders to do more. 90% would be willing to help the fight against child poverty themselves if asked by a charity and would be prepared to take an active part in lobbying governments; sign a petition; display a poster or sticker; support fair trade or give their own time or money to support a campaign.

The poll comes at a time when the debate on child poverty is high on the international agenda. It reveals an overwhelming majority of the population views global child poverty as a serious political issue -- and that they believe that more should be done to combat it.

More than half of UK adults interviewed said they would like to see Tony Blair or the UK Government taking more action to combat child poverty in the UK. In contrast tackling child poverty in developing countries is thought to be the responsibility of the UN, World Bank and the IMF -- all came under fire for not doing enough.

The research shows that the public is largely optimistic about the likelihood of eliminating child poverty, especially in the UK. However, when asked about the ability of governments to meet targets on child poverty, people's optimism plummets. The MORI poll shows that less than half the UK public has faith in government or official targets to combat this problem.

The key findings of the poll show:

  • 98% identified child poverty as a serious political issue in developing countries 60% say the same is true for the UK
  • 64% of people agreed that child poverty in the UK can be ended, and 38% agreed that this was the case globally
  • This falls to 46% when presented with the UK government targets to reduce child poverty in the UK by half within ten years -- and to eliminate it within 20 years -- and 24% when presented with the UN's world-wide 'Millennium Target' to halve the global percentage of people living in extreme poverty by 2015
  • 56% would like to see Tony Blair and the UK Government taking more action to combat child poverty
  • 56% of people identified the UN as having lead responsibility for eradicating child poverty globally followed by the World Bank/IMF (41%)
  • 90% of UK adults would be prepared to do something to help end child poverty, if asked by a charity
  • 26% of UK adults would be prepared to do four or more things to help combat child poverty, if asked by a charity

Technical details

MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 2,095 adults aged 15+ in 201 sampling points throughout the UK, between 21 and 26 March 2002. All interviews were conducted face-to-face and in homes. All data are weighted to the known national population profile.

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