The Government has been urged to take immediate action to prevent 160,000 more children from slipping into abject poverty.
The call from the Childrens Rights Alliance comes as they launch a new Child Poverty Monitor.
It says over 5percent of children are already living in poverty and going without basic essentials.
Tanya Ward, Chief Executive of the Children's Rights Alliance, says the cycle needs to be broken.
"You can predict whether or not that a child will go to University from the age of 3.
"It's not good enough, it's not inevitable that a child won't progress or reach their full potential.
"But if you don't put the national programmes in place to change those outcomes, that's what will happen."
