ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors argue that the choice of appropriate instruments for combating child poverty must also tackle these root causes of child poverty. In the context of combating child poverty, purpose-specific respectively 'earmarked' transfers could include food stamps, housing benefits, free school lunches, health insurance cover further training options for the parents or day care vouchers Day care vouchers as an instrument for combating child poverty address one of the most significant causes of child poverty. Vouchers guarantee that parents cannot put the money towards other consumer ends. Day care vouchers could be combined with quality assurance instruments, aimed primarily at implementing consistent and nationwide quality standards, and giving parents a means of judging the quality of a day care centre better than they can in the existing system. Instruments for combating child poverty must have a lasting effect; in other words they must not only work in the short term but also in the medium and long term.
