Nursery World - Life Chances Indicators 'could transform child poverty'

A ‘once in a generation’ opportunity for the Government to prevent disadvantaged children from becoming poor adults is not to be missed, Frank Field has said.

At a Westminster conference to mark Infant Mental Health Week, the Labour MP highlighted how proposed Life Chances Indicators could include the early years.

The Labour politician is backing use of the indictors, which he first recommended in his Independent Review on Poverty and Life Chances, in 2010. The idea also appeared in last month’s Queen’s Speech.

The measures look at a range of skills at age five, including whether a child can use cutlery or go the toilet by themselves, and language use.

Importantly, they aim to capture variation in family support and features reading, praise and fun at home.

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