"We all want to live in a society where people have what they need to get by and that's why we welcome the Social Metrics Commission’s single measure of poverty covering children, adults and pensioners. What’s unique and particularly welcome is that the measure takes into account the inescapable expenses that some families face, such as the extra costs of disability and childcare. It also assesses whether families have enough to cover these extra outgoings, for example by dipping into savings, or whether trying to make ends meet will mean that these families are pulled in by the currents of poverty. We hope that the measure will make it easier for policymakers to tackle poverty."
Bharat Mehta CBE, Chief Executive, Trust for London