This week, the Education Select Committee published its report Underachievement of White Working Class Children. Chair of the Education Committee, Graham Stuart said “Poor white British children now come out of our schools with worse qualifications than equally poor children in any other major ethnic group”, adding “we also know that the effect of attending an outstanding school is transformational for poor children”.
The Committee’s report comes a week after a report by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission said the Government’s child poverty strategy for the next three years will fail, as 3.5 million children will be in poverty by 2020. The Commission, which is chaired by former health secretary Alan Milburn, said the draft strategy published by the Government marks a “missed opportunity” and falls significantly short of what is needed. The group urged politicians to work together to address the issue, but minister said they remained committed to ending child poverty by 2020.
