Welfare pledge to cut child poverty by 350,000, By Hannah Richardson, April 5, 2011, BBC News: “Some 350,000 children will be lifted out of poverty as a result of a single change to the benefit system, the government has said. Replacing six benefits with the Universal Credit would help lift families out of the ‘vicious cycle of poverty and dependency’, it said. It also said it would to take 200,000 children out of the severest poverty. Charities warn benefit changes will put a huge strain on disadvantaged children. The promises comes in England’s newly published child poverty strategy…”

• Teenage pregnancy rate falls, February 24, 2010, BBC News: “The number of teenage pregnancies in England and Wales has fallen by 4%, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). A total of 41,325 women under 18 fell pregnant in 2008, down 3.9% from 42,988 in 2007, the figures show. Of these young women 49% had an abortion, compared with 50% in 2007. The government had pledged in 1999 to halve teenage pregnancy rates among under-18s in England by this year but is widely expected to miss that target. The ONS data shows for every 1,000 girls aged between 15 and 17 in England and Wales, there were just over 40 pregnancies…”
• Teenage pregnancies fall, but not far enough, By Anna Bawden, February 24, 2010, The Guardian: “The government today announced an overhaul of its teenage pregnancy strategy after new figures showed conception rates among under 18s were not falling fast enough. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, 41,325 girls under 18 in England and Wales fell pregnant in 2008, a decline of 3.9% from 2007, while the number of pregnancies among the under-16s fell 7.6% to 7,577. But the decline is far short of the government’s pledge to halve teenage pregnancies by 2010. Ministers committed to halve pregnancies among 15- to 17-year-olds in England from the 1998 rate of 46.6 conceptions per 1,000 girls…”

More youngsters from poor homes go to university, By Hannah Richardson, January 28, 2010, BBC News: “More of England’s poorest youngsters are going to university, but the wealthiest are three times more likely to win a place, a report says. Youngsters in the poorest areas are 30% more likely to go to university than they were five years ago, England’s university funding agency Hefce said. A fifth of the poorest youngsters go to university, up from an eighth in 2004. This compares to 57% of the richest. Ministers said ‘record investment’ was helping more people go to university. The report by Hefce statisticians looks at trends in the university participation of 18 and 19-year-olds between 1994 and 2010…”

More pupils can claim free meals, August 11, 2009, BBC News: “The number of children eligible for free school meals in England has risen by 21,410 - the first annual increase in three years, official figures show. The 2009 school census reveals a rise from 15.5% to 15.9% in primary schools and from 13.1% to 13.4% in secondary. The increase has been blamed on job losses in the recession. This annual profile of the school population also shows that almost one in four primary pupils is now from an ethnic minority. The census, based on school rolls in January, also shows a further increase in the number of pupils with English as a second language…”