evidence: Around one in five children in Northern Ireland are living in relative poverty (before housing costs), with little sustained reduction in levels over the last eight years. This is a key finding of a report published by Comptroller and Auditor General Dorinnia Carville today (Tuesday 12 March 2024). Today’s report on Child Poverty in Northern Ireland considers the effectiveness of the 2016-22 Child Poverty Strategy and its impact on outcomes for children. Tackling poverty is a cross-cutting issue, and therefore an Executive-wide responsibility. [...] "Northern Ireland has not had a strategy to deal with child poverty for almost two years, during a cost-of-living crisis. A failure to tackle child poverty early and effectively risks lifelong impacts to children’s health, education and general development. There is also a considerable cost to the public purse, with previous estimates indicating costs of child poverty to be between £825 million and £1 billion annually."