Tackling Inequality
Issue- National Equality Panel report on equality in the UK is published.
Key points
- Today's sobering report from the National Equality Panel shows the scarring effects of the rapid rise in inequality in the 1980s are still with us today. Despite a levelling-off of inequality in the last decade, we still have much further to go.
- Labour is committed to further action to tackle inequality and build a fair society. We will:
- Extend the early years offer' of early learning to more children, from 2 - 4 years old, and expand the successful Sure Start network so there will be 3,500 centres across the country by March 2010.
- Fund one-to-one tuition for children in danger of falling behind at school, and drive forward progress in improving access to higher education.
- Provide more resources to tackle worklessness, so everyone who can work will contribute to and benefit from the national economic recovery.
- Improve work-life balance for parents with improved paternity leave.
- Introduce landmark reforms to further improve workplace savings and pensions.
- Create a new Social Mobility Commission with additional finance for 10,000 undergraduate interns from low income backgrounds.
- Guarantee that by 2012 high performing pupils from low income backgrounds will receive support to enter higher education.
- Expand the Apprenticeship programme and improve the quality of information, advice and guidance available to all young people.
- Under the Tories, inequality rose and child poverty doubled. Since Labour came into power in 1997, we have introduced the National Minimum Wage, tax credits and Sure Start. Thanks to our actions, half a million children and 900,000 pensioners have been lifted out of poverty.
- There is much further to go. We are introducing catch up tuition at school for children who need it, and raising the education and training age to 18. The Tories would cut tax credits and Sure Start for families on modest incomes, while giving a tax cut of £200,000 to the 3,000 wealthiest estates.
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