The Church of Scotland along with the Methodist, Baptist and United Reformed Churches are criticising Government plans to change the way it measures child poverty.
They claim those living in poverty will be labelled by a single digit number.
The Churches also say the Government shouldn't be focusing on those out of work as a measure of poverty and ignoring low-paid families. They believe this will lead to an incorrect estimation of the number of children who are living below the breadline. Ministers are currently holding a consultation on the issue following recent research which suggested three hundred thousand children had moved out of poverty in the last two years.
The consultation says that even though they were described as no longer in poverty life remained the same, the disadvantaged continued to limit aspiration and they were no better off. The Government wants a new measurement which will better represent those in poverty and are proposing these potential dimensions: income and material deprivation, worklessness, unmanageable debt, poor housing, parental skill level, access to quality education, family stability and parental health.
But the plans have attracted criticism.
Paul Morrison is the Public Issues Policy Advisor for the Methodist Church. He tells Premier's Des Busteed on the News Hour the Government needs to think again.
Anti-poverty charity Church Urban Fund shares the concerns of the Churches.
Paul Hackwood, Chair of Trustees said:
"Nobody would dream of giving scores out of ten for how people are affected by poverty: we wouldn't say that a girl from a low income family at risk of abuse is a nine but a homeless kid with substance abuse problems is a ten.
"But in trying to express the UK's level of child poverty in a single number, the Government is at risk of doing something similar."
The National Children's Bureau also has reservations. Enver Solomon is its Director of Evidence and Impact.
He said:
"Government must focus less on how to measure poverty and act decisively to introduce robust mechanisms for ensuring that progress in the fight against child poverty is swift and permanent."
A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions responded:
"This government remains committed to eradicating child poverty but we want to take a new approach by tackling the root causes including worklessness, educational failure and family breakdown.
"Our welfare reforms will improve the lives of some of the poorest families in our communities with the universal credit simplifying the complex myriad of benefits and making three million people better off."
The consultation closes today after which ministers will look closely at responses before bringing in possible new legislation. Meanwhile, the four churches are working on a new report called 'The Lies We Tell Ourselves: Ending Comfortable Myths About Poverty'.
The report will confront some of the common myths that people believe about those on benefits in the UK.
It's expected to be published next month.