Sam Royston: The Government has made a great decision in seeking to understand poverty better

Sam Royston is Poverty and Early Years Adviser at The Children's Society.

This morning the Government launched its consultation on measuring child poverty at an event we co-hosted with Lewisham local authority.

The Government made a great decision when it decided to hold this consultation. It is a valuable opportunity to establish a comprehensive understanding of all of the factors pushing millions of children in the UK into poverty – and a real chance to have an open debate about what we can do about it.

The heart of child poverty is low income, and we must never forget the impact that this has on the lives of children. We know that both working and non-working families in this country are forced to make difficult choices – between heating the house and buying a winter coat or between repairing a boiler and putting a healthy meal on the table.