Just 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: “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.
Read more:
- Measles, whooping cough and infection: Why children’s health is getting worse in the UK
- Poverty doesn’t take a break in the summer holidays – and baby banks don’t either
- I’m a mum impacted by the two-child limit on benefits. Labour must do what’s right and end it
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.
