Push for Action on Child Poverty Intensifies

Charity and labor groups are banding together to elevate the issue of child poverty, urging the government to take concrete steps in addressing it.

As discussions around future strategies unfold, a study from the Charitable Coalition indicates a strong public desire for prioritizing family support. Results show that nearly 75% of participants believe that all children should have access to a quality childhood, even if that entails government support for struggling families. Additionally, 71% of respondents expressed that children ought to be at the forefront of government investments.

Organizations behind this research include notable charities such as Save the Children, the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), The Children’s Society, and Barnardo’s. CPAG’s CEO, Alison Garnham, highlighted that around a year after the last election, the government’s commitment to tackling child poverty remains widely supported. She pointed out that strategies aimed at improving living standards and opportunities are crucial not just for children and their families, but for the country as a whole. “It’s time for action,” she urged, especially for the 4.5 million children in the UK living in poverty.

In light of this pressure, there have been calls for Labour leader Keir Starmer to set legally binding targets for reducing child poverty.

Baroness Ruth Lister, a former director of CPAG, stated in a recent report that the constraints on benefits for families with more than two children should be lifted. She stressed that addressing child poverty should become a central focus of government policy.

The Compass report, backed by Labour MP Simon Opel, echoed this sentiment, arguing that such restrictions must end immediately. He noted that child poverty affects about one in three children in the UK, urging for a better societal and governmental response.

At the moment, there’s no Child Poverty Task Force planning to release an action plan this summer, although Scotland has made strides to ease these restrictions starting next year. Since 2017, families claiming Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit have faced limitations, which the government has notably resisted abolishing even amid growing calls from charities.

According to sources within Whitehall, Labour strategists see the potential loss of voters—particularly to Nigel Farage’s Reform Party—as a significant factor in their hesitancy to lift the two-child limits.

However, recent polling suggests that even voters who supported Labour in the last election but are considering a switch to Reform are strongly in favor of addressing child poverty. Among those shifting allegiances, 76% felt that lower benefit levels create unequal opportunities for children, a view mirrored by committed Labour supporters.

Moreover, 82% of Labour voters contemplating a switch to Reform agreed that disparities between the poorest and wealthiest families in Britain are unacceptable.

“If Labour is serious about regaining lost voters, they need to prioritize addressing child poverty rather than downplaying it,” noted Ed Dorell, a partner involved in the discussed polling.

Current regulations prevent families from receiving crucial benefits—including the child element of Universal Credit—for third and subsequent children, a point widely recognized by charities as an effective way to combat child poverty.

Still, the government has been looking at alternative, less costly measures lately amid tight fiscal rules. These might involve limits on benefits for additional children.

In their general election manifesto, the Labour Party has promised ambitious plans aimed at reducing child poverty, as well as a commitment to ending widespread reliance on food banks.

In her report, Lister emphasized the need for adequate funding, suggesting that contributions should come from those most able to pay. Furthermore, she advocated for the inclusion of individuals who have experienced poverty in the development and monitoring of strategies, alongside proposals for increasing universal child benefits and providing free school lunches universally.

Despite the charity’s warnings that failure to lift the two-child cap could drive child poverty rates to their highest levels ever, ministers remain firm in their stance.

Recent statistics reveal that more than 4.5 million children were living in poverty in the UK as of April 2024—the highest recorded figure to date, up by 100,000 over three years.