Blitz Bureau
Arecord 4.5 million children are living in poverty in the UK, according to official figures. The figures, released by the Department for Work and Pensions on March 27, show an extra 100,000 children were living below the breadline in the year to April 2024. It is the third year running that child poverty has increased.
The figure has risen sharply since 2021 and the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) predicts 4.8 million children will be in poverty by the end of this Parliament in 2029-30, reported BBC.
It is calling for the Government to scrap the two-child benefit limit in its upcoming child poverty strategy, and to pause the recent proposals for wider benefit cuts. The two-child cap prevents parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for a third child, with a few exemptions.
A household is considered to be in relative poverty if it lies below 60 per cent of the median income, or below 337 pounds ($435) per week.
The record figures come after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government announced cuts to disability welfare payments among other spending cuts. “The latest data is a stark reminder of the scale of deprivation among families, with close to a third of children in Britain now living in poverty,” said Adam Corlett, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation think tank, adds the agency.
“This is before any additional impact from new benefit cuts and a weak living standards outlook, which are set to reduce incomes across the poorest half of working-age households by £500 over the next five years.”
Speaking in the House of Commons on March 27, Work and Pensions Minister Stephen Timms said the figures “show just what a huge challenge” the “very high level of child poverty that’s left by the previous government” is for Labour.
He added, “We’re going to be addressing that”. Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed a shake-up to the benefits system on March 26. This includes halving incapacity benefits for new claimants, and tighter criteria around the Personal Independence Payment for those with long term physical or mental health conditions. An extra 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, will be pushed into relative poverty by these changes, BBC added.
