Keir Starmer has been warned he must make cutting levels of child poverty a personal priority or risk leaving a dire Labour legacy on the issue.
Leading charities representing children and low-income families have today(TUE) told the PM that child poverty will be “significantly higher” at the end of this parliament than when Labour took office if the two-child limit is not scrapped.
In a letter to Mr Starmer, groups including the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), Save the Children UK and Barnardo’s said it would be the first time a Labour government would have left such a legacy. And they said not only would it be a poor Labour legacy but the number of children in poverty would be at its highest since records began.
The letter says: “The two-child limit pushes more and more children into poverty every day and will act as a brake on any other action taken by government to reduce poverty. There can be no road to sustainable national growth unless child poverty reduces at scale and at pace.”
It adds: “We look to your personal leadership to deliver this change and to direct the full weight of your government into reducing child poverty with urgency, with investment in family incomes, ambitious targets, and with a public narrative about why it matters so much to your vision for the country.”
Child poverty has reached a new record high with 4.5 million kids falling below the poverty line in the year to April 2024, official statistics showed at the end of last month. This is an increase of 100,000 from the previous year.
The 4.5m kids are living in ‘relative poverty’ after housing costs, meaning they are living in households earning less than 60% of the median income. Those in relative poverty are considered people who can mostly afford food and accommodation but lack money to be able to participate and engage fully in society.
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Analysis from CPAG shows child poverty is on track to rise to 4.8m by 2029/30. Last month the government’s own impact assessment estimated its recently announced benefit cuts would result in an extra 50,000 kids in poverty.
The two-child benefit limit denies child allowances in universal credit to third or subsequent children born after April 2017. Currently 1.6 million UK children are affected by the policy, CPAG said.
The government’s child poverty strategy is due to be released in the coming months, with campaigners hopeful it will scrap the two-child limit.
A Government spokesman said: “No child should be in poverty – that’s why our Ministerial Taskforce is exploring all available levers to give every child the best start in life as part of our Plan for Change. Alongside delivering on our Get Britain Working White Paper to support people into good jobs and make everyone better off, we’re increasing the Living Wage, uprating benefits and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions to help low-income households.”
Dear Prime Minister,
As parliament returns from recess, we are writing to welcome your ongoing personal commitment to reducing child poverty – made clear at the recent Liaison Committee hearing – and to share our high expectations for the forthcoming child poverty strategy.
Our respective organisations work with and represent children and families across the UK. We know that the strategy has the potential to make a crucial difference to the daily lives and life chances of children up and down the country. As you know, an ambitious and properly resourced strategy will also be central to supporting your government’s aims to break down barriers to opportunity, raise living standards and improve school readiness. There can be no road to sustainable national growth unless child poverty reduces at scale and at pace.
4.5 million children in the UK currently live in poverty. CPAG analysis shows that this will reach 4.8 million by 2029 unless urgent action is taken.1 The task of reducing child poverty will be made even harder by planned cuts to disability benefits.
Ensuring that fewer children are in poverty at the end of this parliamentary term than at the start will require a direct investment in family incomes via the social security system. As the bare minimum, this must start with scrapping the two-child limit and the benefit cap. The two-child limit pushes more and more children into poverty every day and will act as a brake on any other action taken by government to reduce poverty. The benefit cap pushes 300,000 children into deep poverty at a time when their parent’s capacity to work is limited. Neither policy is compatible with the ambition to raise living standards.
Scrapping the two-child limit is by far the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty. It would lift 350,000 children out of poverty overnight and result in 700,000 children living in less deep poverty. If it is not scrapped, the stark reality is that child poverty will be significantly higher at the end of this parliament than when the government took office making this the first time a Labour government would leave such a legacy, and the number of children living in poverty will be at its highest since records began.
The strategy will also need to set targets to reduce child poverty over the next 10-20 years, laying the foundations for further policy interventions to tackle child poverty across different parts of government, and helping to maintain focus throughout this parliament and beyond.
We have seen strong leadership from the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Education, and thorough engagement from the Child Poverty Unit. As we approach the conclusion of the spending review and the publication of the child poverty strategy, the opportunity to deliver the real change that children, families and the country needs must now be taken.
We look to your personal leadership to deliver this change and to direct the full weight of your government into reducing child poverty with urgency, with investment in family incomes, ambitious targets, and with a public narrative about why it matters so much to your vision for the country. We stand ready to support you in making this vision a reality.
Paul Carberry, Chief Executive of Action for Children
Anna Feuchtwang, CEO of National Children’s Bureau
Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group
Joseph Howes, CEO of Buttle UK and Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition
Paul Kissack, Chief Executive, JRF
Baroness Anne Longfield, Executive Chair and Founder of Centre for Young Lives
Moazzam Malik, CEO of Save the Children UK
Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice
Lisa Pearce, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Gingerbread
Lynn Perry MBE, CEO of Barnardo’s
Emma Revie, CEO of Trussell
Mark Russell, Chief Executive of The Children’s Society
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