A major consequence of the Estimates will be to drive more lone parents and their families into poverty. Recent research from the ESRI shows that homemakers and lone parents are the largest single group living in poverty. A plethora of reports, many of them Government ones, argue that the best route out of poverty is through acquiring skills and getting work. However, in a short-term saving of money, a massive roadblock has been placed across the escape routes available to these families, with the result that their long-term welfare reliance is reinforced. These cuts will lead to a growth in child poverty as they prevent people from having a better quality of life.