This is the Commission’s second annual State of the Nation report to be presented to Parliament. The Commission was created by the UK Government in 2012 as an independent and statutory body to monitor and report on what is happening to child poverty and social mobility in our country. In this report we assess what the UK Government, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government are doing (our remit does not cover the Northern Ireland Government), what progress is being made, and what is likely to happen in future. We also examine the role of employers and professions, councils and colleges, schools and universities, parents and charities. We make a number of recommendations for action.
This is our last State of the Nation report prior to the 2015 UK General Election. As such it presents a verdict on the past and provides a window into the future. Our central conclusion is that the next Government will have to adopt radical new approaches if poverty is to be beaten, mobility improved and if Britain is to avoid becoming a permanently divided society. We define that as the 2020 challenge.