Ministers acknowledged the Government had to step up its battle against child poverty as they announced a new unit to co-ordinate efforts across Whitehall.
Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain re-affirmed Labour's commitment to halving the number of children living in poverty by 2010 despite warnings that it is off-course.
He accepted that more needed to be done and insisted the new Child Poverty Unit would help break the cycle of poverty for many more youngsters.
While official figures show that 600,000 children have been lifted out of poverty since 1997, Labour MPs and independent experts have warned the Government it must accelerate progress towards its goal of eradicating child poverty by 2020.
Independent policy adviser Lisa Harker, who was asked to review the Government's child poverty strategy in 2006, said on Monday the Government was falling behind its targets.
"It has achieved a lot - 600,000 children out of poverty in the last seven years, which is a major reversal of the trend we have seen for the last 30 years," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"That is a major achievement, but the Government has set itself an ambition and it is not yet on track to achieve that ambition. It will not make its 2020 target on current progress."
She added that while the "medicine" - such as helping more parents to work - was right, the "dosage" was wrong. "It hasn't invested enough in resources," she said.
Mr Hain said the Government had already announced extra money from next year to help parents work, but accepted that Ms Harker was correct in her analysis.
"She's right, we do have to do more and that's the purpose of this poverty unit within Whitehall," Mr Hain said.
