McCausland seeks to address intergenerational poverty

The meeting was held to discuss the findings of Mr Field’s report ‘Foundation Years, preventing poor children becoming poor adults’, with a view to exploring the lessons for Northern Ireland.

During the visit Mr Fields met with officials from several Executive departments, discussing current Executive programmes which contribute to addressing intergenerational poverty in Northern Ireland, including the approach to early years work; improving attainment in schools; and the anti-poverty work of DSD.

The Minister said: “The reasons for social deprivation are highly complex, but addressing this need at a very young age is key to moving forward. These difficult economic times increase the imperative for us to address this very important issue and my officials, and those of our partner departments, continue to work on addressing these key issues.

“I am committed to ensuring that my Department, with its mission ’together, tackling disadvantage, building sustainable communities’ is leading the work to ensure we have a focused way forward that gets to the heart of this challenging agenda and makes a difference to the most vulnerable in our society.”