Quality
childcare is part of the answer to ending child poverty, Plaid Cymru leader,
Leanne Wood has said. Visiting a nursery in Llanelli (on May 26th),
the party leader unveiled the party's three-point plan to tackle child poverty.
Leanne
Wood said that it is a damning indictment of Labour's legacy that 200,000
children in Wales are living in poverty, with 90,000 in severe child poverty.
She said that Plaid Cymru's plan aims to break the cycle of poverty and lower
educational attainment that comes with that.
Plaid Cymru's three-point plan to tackle child poverty includes:
Plaid Cymru's three-point plan to tackle child poverty includes:
- Free
full-time nursery places for all three year olds and extending the
provision of 12 and a half hours to all two year olds in Wales. This would
provide children with early educational input giving them the chance of
the best start in life as well as helping parents to return to work or
work longer hours to improve families' income levels.
- Measures
to lift households out of fuel poverty. Plaid Cymru will create a Welsh
energy company, Ynni Cymru, to use profit from Welsh resources to cut the
cost of energy for thousands of families across Wales. Through NICW we
will also embark on an unprecedented retrofitting scheme to make homes
more energy efficient.
- Scrapping
the bedroom tax, which has resulted in little savings and has caused
disruption and chaos.
Announcing
the plan, Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood said:
"Every child in Wales should be given the chance to succeed, and access to good quality childcare is a crucial part of that.
"Plaid Cymru's child poverty action plan means providing free full-time nursery places for all three year olds and 12 hours per week of free childcare for two year olds. It also includes measures to end fuel poverty through reduced household bills and scrapping the bedroom tax.
"Despite consecutive years of Labour and Conservative rule, one in three children in Wales lives in poverty. That is not acceptable. Plaid Cymru wants to give every child every chance of success, but research tells us that children who are born into poverty are already at a disadvantage. That's why we need to break this cycle."
"Every child in Wales should be given the chance to succeed, and access to good quality childcare is a crucial part of that.
"Plaid Cymru's child poverty action plan means providing free full-time nursery places for all three year olds and 12 hours per week of free childcare for two year olds. It also includes measures to end fuel poverty through reduced household bills and scrapping the bedroom tax.
"Despite consecutive years of Labour and Conservative rule, one in three children in Wales lives in poverty. That is not acceptable. Plaid Cymru wants to give every child every chance of success, but research tells us that children who are born into poverty are already at a disadvantage. That's why we need to break this cycle."
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