Get emergency foodJust over a year ago, the government made its promise to children living in poverty. The Prime Minister told the nation "No child should be left hungry, cold or have their future held back… my ministers will leave no stone unturned to give every child the very best start at life."
A fortnight ago, the PM went one step further, declaring in front of Parliamentary Select Committee Chairs that “I want to get child poverty down." In doing so, the PM has set out the key test of the government's much-anticipated child poverty strategy this autumn.
This is the latest in the strengthening of the government's language on this commitment. The government now consistently describes the forthcoming child poverty strategy as ambitious. The popular and much-needed expansion of free school meals was offered as a ‘downpayment’ of bigger things to come.
If child poverty is to come down, and the government is to deliver a truly ambitious child poverty strategy, we must face facts. Child poverty levels are rising. Last month’s stark findings from England’s Children's Commissioner show children are facing ‘almost Dickensian levels of poverty’ in the UK today.
It is no secret why. Every day, the two-child limit pulls 109 more kids into poverty, punishing them for having sisters or brothers. After a year of careful inquiry, the government knows there is no route to reducing child poverty unless this policy is scrapped in full.
The government speaks of tackling child poverty as its moral mission. It serves a practical one too. As the PM himself says, tackling poverty is central to his critical priorities on raising living standards, delivering a better NHS, and ensuring people feel safe and secure. Getting rid of the two-child limit is the most cost-effective way to lift 350,000 kids out of poverty, while reducing the depth of poverty for 700,000 more.
The public too wants change. Polling shows widespread support for the government taking more action to tackle child poverty. People agree that families are struggling now and need support, and every child deserves the chance to thrive.
Growing up in poverty scars children's lives. It means shorter life expectancies, poorer educational outcomes, worse physical and mental health. It means stress and isolation, hungry kids, cramped and damp housing. It's a day-to-day reality and a future no child deserves. Matching the scale of the Prime Minister’s ambition to reduce child poverty will come with a price tag for the necessary investment. But prioritising policies that will deliver critical change for children is essential to set us on a stronger path.
It’s a prize worth fighting for. Publication of the strategy can’t come soon enough for struggling families in desperate need of action not just words. And for a supportive public ready for change, ‘promise made, promise kept’ on child poverty will be a success the whole nation can get behind.
Alison Garnham, CEO, Child Poverty Action Group
Emma Revie, CEO, Trussell
Dr Philip Goodwin, Chief Executive Officer, The UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK)
Kate Bell, Assistant General Secretary, TUC
Moazzam Malik, CEO Save the Children UK
Mark Russell, CEO, The Children’s Society
Lisa Pearce, Interim CEO, Gingerbread
Baroness Anne Longfield, Executive Chair, Centre for Young Lives
Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice
Joseph Howes, CEO of Buttle UK and Chair of the End Child Poverty coalition
Lynn Perry, CEO, Barnardo’s
Paul Carberry, CEO, Action for Children
Anna Feuchtwang, Chief Executive, National Children’s Bureau