A leading think-tank has said Government policy on social welfare could lead to a rise in poverty and inequality.
A leading think-tank has said Government policy on social welfare could lead to a rise in poverty and inequality.
The journal of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) published three reports which claim the coalition's attempts to tackle the problems are unlikely to be successful.
Jonathan Portes, director of the NIESR and former chief economist at the Cabinet Office, wrote that the decision to reduce funding for SureStart, the introduction of free schools and the abolition of the education maintenance allowance "do not seem to be based on strong evidence of what might contribute to greater social mobility".
He said: "The coalition Government has a clear commitment to implementing policies designed to increase social mobility, and its broad policy focus is sound.
"Nevertheless, at present it is difficult to be optimistic about either broader structural trends or about the majority of the specific policies implemented so far."
According to one paper, entitled Child Poverty in Britain: Past Lessons and Future Prospects, the previous Labour government emphasised the role of work as the primary route out of poverty, but many of those who did find employment still relied on benefits.
The report's author, Richard Dickens, professor of economics at the University of Sussex, wrote: "The lessons of the past decade cast severe doubt on whether the current coalition Government strategy of promoting work will be any more successful in reducing child poverty.
"With planned benefit cuts in the pipeline we could well experience some substantial increases in child poverty over the coming years."
But a Government spokesman claimed reforms of the welfare system would have "a dynamic impact" on the poorest families and improve the life chances of children.
"Universal credit will make work pay and lift almost a million people, including 350,000 children, out of poverty," he said.
