Netwatch

Guardian.co.uk
Britain is the worst place to be a child in the European Union, according to a study on child poverty published today. The study, by Unicef researchers for the Institute of Public Policy Research, indicates that the UK comes last among all EU countries on three of seven specific indicators of child well-being, and is below average on a further two.

Britain's bottom ranking, below poorer countries, has heightened pressure on the government to move more quickly to fulfil its pledge to tackle child poverty, described by chancellor, Gordon Brown, as a ``scar on the soul of Britain''. Child poverty in Britain has trebled in the past 20 years and four in 10 British children are born into low income households.

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