What is in the UK government’s child poverty strategy? | Children
Keir Starmer has praised his government’s plan to tackle child poverty as a “moral duty” and vowed to lift half a million children out of distress.
It is the first such document in more than a decade and has been described by the Solution Foundation think tank as a “major shift” in the government’s approach to children in poverty.
The scheme was promised in the spring but has been delayed as cabinet ministers look at ways to remove the two-child limit on universal credit. It looks like the wait was worth it for many Labor MPs who were delighted by Rachel Reeves’ announcement that the cap would be lifted in the budget. The key points of the strategy and their impact are:
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1. Removal of the two-child allowance limit
This is the basic plan of the strategy because it will have by far the biggest and quickest impact. Figures show that the program will lift 300,000 children out of relative poverty by 2027, with this number rising to 450,000 by 2031. The Resolution Foundation says it will simultaneously introduce some poverty-stricken measures, such as freezing local housing benefits, but still predicts there will be 300,000 fewer children living in poverty by the end of parliament, suggesting the government’s record “will not be that shy of what the first Blair achieved”. administration”.
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2. Extending eligibility for free school meals
This was announced some time ago but is still an important measure to reduce child poverty. From September next year, more than half a million students in England will be eligible for free school meals if they come from a family receiving universal credit above the current income limit of £7,400. The current provision already covers 2.1 million disadvantaged children. Predictions in the child poverty strategy suggest it will help lift 100,000 children out of poverty by 2028.
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3. Free breakfast clubs
The main Labor manifesto commitment to provide free breakfast clubs for primary school children in England remains. Government Offers from Weetabix, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s recently announced for early adopter schools. “These partnerships will maximize the impact of our free breakfast clubs, making them work better for all schools and saving time while ensuring every child has access to a range of nutritious foods,” he said.
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4. New efforts to end temporary accommodation within six weeks
In some areas, a pilot program will be implemented to enable homeless families staying in temporary hostels to move into permanent homes within six weeks. The £8m scheme will be trialled in 20 council areas with a view to expanding it if successful. Councils will also have a duty to notify schools, GPs and health visitors when a child is placed with family in temporary accommodation. In a parallel policy, ministers will work with the NHS to prevent mothers with newborns being sent back to hostels or other similarly unsuitable accommodation.
The latest figures for England showed there were 2,070 households with children in bed and breakfast accommodation for more than six weeks. According to the law, such accommodations are to be used only as a temporary measure in emergency situations and not to exceed six weeks.
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5. Introducing a new measure of ‘profound material poverty’
One of the criticisms of the policy is that there is no binding target for the government, but estimates that more than 500,000 children will be lifted out of relative poverty are used as a reference. Some experts are skeptical that this figure will be reached. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said there was “significant uncertainty about how large a reduction in measured poverty these policies would deliver, partly due to real economic uncertainty.”
But alongside estimates of children in relative poverty, there will also be a new measure of “profound material poverty.” Preliminary statistics show that approximately 2 million children are in this situation. This is a new measure that shows what basic needs the most deprived children are forced to go without. If reduced significantly over time, experts believe it would also be a valuable measure of whether the government’s policies are working.
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6. Making it easier to choose cheaper baby food
Ministers have moved to ensure parents know that all baby food contains the same ingredients, so there is no need to buy more expensive brands. Under the changes, the government will adopt recommendations made by the Competition and Markets Authority in February aimed at helping inform parents about baby food products that are nutritionally cheaper than best-known brands, such as supermarket own-label products. The measures will include rules stating that all baby food products must be displayed together in stores.
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7. Expanding the availability of upfront child care costs
A rule change from next year will increase eligibility for upfront childcare costs for people returning from parental leave, making it easier for new parents on universal credit to return to work, it said.
The high up-front cost of child care can prevent people from getting jobs. The government says the measure will prevent new parents from facing a debt trap, meaning more parents can return to work and start working faster.
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8. Improving the child care system
The government has vowed to overhaul the child support service and promised a new system that will improve the ability to identify and act on non-compliance over the next few years. Fees for those using the service will be halved, while a 20 per cent fee will be retained for non-resident parents who refuse to pay on time and in full. He said parents could choose to switch to the new service or receive better support to make and maintain a family-based arrangement.
