It is almost always cheaper and more humane to give poor people money when they need it (both directly and via services.) Than to mop up the mess with police, prisons, Healthcare etc etc.

People seem to think poverty is a choice, and maybe it is, but it's a choice by governments and citizens not to help those who need it.

This is a very good point.

I can't believe that it took so long for a government to specifically measure child poverty; because as they say once you can measure it you can do something about it.

If we didn't have a housing crisis, then also simply putting homeless people in a home greatly reduces the burden on the other services (healthcare, police, drug rehab etc...) that they make use of.