Do we need poverty targets to solve poverty?

With more and more people feeling the strain, Steffan Evans asks whether it’s time for the Welsh Government to set targets to end poverty

As the cost-of-living crisis continues to deepen it is unsurprising that poverty has risen up the political agenda. Nearly 4 in 10 Welsh households already found it difficult to afford anything beyond essentials in November 2021. It is likely that the situation has deteriorated further over recent months. Rising concern about poverty has seen the re-emergence of an old debate – does Wales need to set targets for ending poverty?

The arguments for targets

The arguments for setting targets appear clear. Targets provide a focus for government policy. Poverty targets would therefore provide the Welsh Government with an opportunity to develop a clear and coherent vision of how it intends to reduce the number of people trapped in poverty in Wales.

Introducing targets would also provide an opportunity for the Welsh Government to measure progress and also make it easier for people and organisations to hold the Welsh Government to account. It would also bring the position in Wales more in line with the position in Scotland where the Scottish Government have adopted child poverty targets.

Reasons to be cautious

On the face it of it the arguments in favour of setting new targets appear overwhelming. There are reasons to be cautious, however. Chief amongst these is the fact that we have been here before in Wales.

Since the advent of devolution, the Welsh Government have developed various child poverty strategies and set itself the target of ending child poverty by 2020. In the three years to March 2020 however, 31% of children in Wales were living in poverty, with no significant progress made in reducing child poverty over the previous decade. Setting targets as of itself is therefore unlikely to make a significant difference as to how many people live in poverty in Wales.

Lessons to be learned

The fact that poverty targets have not worked in the past is not a reason to dismiss the potential benefits of setting new ones. There are clear lessons that must be learned however, if any targets that are set by the Welsh Government are to have a real impact on the number of people living in poverty.

First, it is vital that any targets that the Welsh Government sets itself reflects its own powers. Work and social security are two of the primary drivers of poverty yet significant powers regarding both have not been devolved to Wales. Any Welsh Government that sets out targets to eradicate poverty in Wales is therefore a hostage to fortune and dependent on the actions of the UK Government to achieve its targets. Setting targets that reflects what may be achievable within devolved competence, however, would be valuable. It would allow the Welsh Government to be held to account for the how effective it is in implementing its own policies.

Second any targets adopted need to be flexible. There is always a risk that global factors will upend even the most effectively implemented Welsh Government policies. Be this a global pandemic or a major war, external factors can have a significant impact on employment and costs. In these circumstances it is vital that a target culture does not lead to the Welsh Government prioritising policies that allow it to meet targets rather than providing the support that people need, in the way people need it at the time.

Third, and most importantly, any discussion on targets must go hand in hand with a discussion on delivery. Too often in Wales we have fallen into the trap of setting aspirational targets or developing strategies and documents that set out well-meaning goals and values but with little detail as to how these will become reality. Any poverty targets should therefore be set alongside clear and focused commitments by the Welsh Government on the practical measures that it intends to adopt to meet them.  

If these lessons are learned, then there is real reason to believe that setting new poverty targets in Wales could have a real impact on poverty. Failure to do so, however, risks the development of yet another set of goals that has a negligible impact on people’s lives.

Steffan Evans is Head of Policy (Poverty) at the Bevan Foundation