Child Poverty Action Group

Who we are

Child Poverty Action Group works on behalf of the more than one in four children in the UK growing up in poverty. It doesn’t have to be like this. We use our understanding of what causes poverty and the impact it has on children’s lives to campaign for policies that will prevent and solve poverty – for good.

We’re looking for motivated people with expert knowledge, experience and talent dedicated to helping us make our mission a reality; to prevent and end child poverty in the UK.

Our culture and values

CPAG have been an accredited Living Wage employer since 2012. The real Living Wage is the only rate calculated according to the costs of living. It provides a voluntary benchmark for employers that wish to ensure their staff earn a wage they can live on, not just the government minimum. Since 2011 the Living Wage movement has delivered a pay rise to over 460,000 people and put £3 billion extra into the pockets of low paid workers.

We understand that people have different needs and aim to support our team so that they are able to manage work and home responsibilities effectively. Enabling our team to balance work and their personal life in ways that benefit everyone is in line with our values and enables people to contribute to their best ability. We regard flexible working as important and we try to accommodate flexible working practices where possible and practical. Many of our staff work flexibly in many different ways, including part-time and requests can be made from day one. This means we would be happy to discuss alternative working hours, days and patterns, and any additional needs or requirements.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

Everyone has the right to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect and to live free from discrimination. We recognise there is an organisational responsibility to tackle inequality and encourage diversity in respect of both the work we undertake and the people we employ and also that every employee of the organisation has personal responsibility to abide by and promote the policy.

CPAG recognises that discrimination can occur and will promote anti-discriminatory practices for people who may be discriminated against on grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, belief, gender, class, HIV & AIDS, age, disability, marital status, pregnancy, people who are gay, lesbian or transgender, people who have dependents or people who are using mental health services. 

We are proud to be an organisation that is not afraid to point out injustice and inequality and have policies in place that recognise the importance of equality and diversity. However, we know as an organisation that there is always room for improvement. We acknowledge the problem with racial diversity within the charity sector and we are committed to taking action to change this. In trying to achieve social change, greater fairness and equality, we must also hold ourselves to account. We want to build a diverse group of talented people working towards our shared vision. 

To this end we have set up an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) group to advise on and help lead this work. Championed by our Board and leadership, we aim for EDI to be embedded throughout our organisation and strategy. We are committed to making change where it is needed and look forward to being part of a sector that prioritises diversity and equality.

We are prepared to invest resource, to where possible recruit for potential rather than seek perfection and recognise the need for a better understanding of racial and other biases in order to reflect the communities we work in. We continue to value the insights brought to the organisation through lived experience. CPAG needs to be a safe place to work, to challenge and feel safe to have uncomfortable conversations.