News and blogs

News

The Cost of a Child in 2019

04 September 2019

The latest report in our annual Cost of a Child series finds that the overall cost of a child up to age 18 (including rent and childcare) is £185,000 for lone parents (up 19% since 2012) and £151,000 for couples (up 5.5% since 2012). The gap between lone parents’ actual income and what they need to meet family needs has grown sharply.

Benefit levels Childcare Children’s benefits Cost of a child Costs and spending News UK Work and pay

Living Hand to Mouth now free to access

03 September 2019

Thanks to funding from UCL Innovation and Enterprise’s Knowledge Exchange and Innovation Fund, supported by HEIF, Living Hand to Mouth is now available to download and read for free.

Benefit levels Benefits for people from abroad Education Food poverty Free school meals Health News UK

161,000 families now affected by the two-child limit

31 July 2019

News UK

Read media coverage of CPAG's work

Press releases

View all

Working lone parents face drastic and growing income shortfalls

04 September 2019

Working lone parents on reasonable pay cannot reach a minimum acceptable living standard – as defined by the public - even if they work full time, new research for Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) shows.

Benefit levels Childcare Cost of a child Costs and spending Press release UK Work and pay

MORE FAMILIES FALL INTO TWO–CHILD LIMIT NET

31 July 2019

Press release Two child limit UK

Universal credit claimants blocked from challenging DWP decisions

19 July 2019

Universal credit (UC) claimants who suspect the DWP has made a mistake in their award and ask for a review are too often blocked by DWP error and failures in the system, a new report from Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) shows.

Legal Mandatory reconsideration and appeals Press release UK Universal credit

Blogs

View all

Costs and spending on decent childhoods

04 September 2019

The new school year is underway after the long summer break. This can be an expensive time for families. Most parents will have faced significant costs in recent weeks, from holiday childcare to new school uniforms. But to what extent are different families able to meet those costs? Every year for the past eight years, we have published research on what it costs to raise children from birth to age 18. This year the research coincides with the Spending Review, and puts a spotlight on how the government does support, and how it should support, families with the extra costs of children.

Benefit levels Blog Childcare Children’s benefits Cost of a child Costs and spending UK Work and pay

Universal credit and childcare costs - what you need to know

20 August 2019

As the school year starts again, parents will be sending their wee ones off to school or nursery and will perhaps be thinking about moving into work themselves. For lots of people this will also involve turning to universal credit for help to pay with childcare costs. A new report from CPAG in Scotland’s Early Warning System suggests for some parents and childcare providers claiming universal credit childcare costs may be not be entirely straightforward.

Blog Childcare Early warning system (Scotland) UK universal credit Scotland

Bringing a motion at the Youth Parliament

08 August 2019

Ben Lomas is the Member of Youth Parliament for St Helens. He lives in St Helens, and will begin year ten at Rainford High in September. Earlier this month, Ben brought a motion on child poverty to the Annual Conference of the Youth Parliament. We asked him about his experience.

Blog Child poverty strategies Ending child poverty UK

Contact us

Child Poverty Action Group is a centre of expertise and campaigning on child poverty, welfare rights, and related issues such as fair pay, childcare, benefits and tax credits. Our spokespeople regularly feature on television, radio and in print media.

Contact

Journalists can contact our press officer, Jane Ahrends, or the out-of-hours duty contact on:

020 7812 5216 (office hours)

07816 909302 (24 hour)

email: jahrends@cpag.org.uk

Looking for a contact in Scotland? Visit our Scotland media page.

Press releases

CPAG regularly puts out press statements on the publication of its own policy and research, and in reaction to other events and news stories related to our work. See our press releases.

Expert information

CPAG can help journalists find information for child poverty related stories. See some key facts and figures.

We may also be able to arrange for you to speak with one of our policy or welfare rights experts for more detailed enquiries.

Case study advice

CPAG can provide advice to journalists on finding case studies, but is rarely able to directly provide case studies.

We encourage journalists in their use of case studies to show sensitivity towards parents who wish to protect their children from the stigma of being labelled as in ‘poverty’ and associated risks such as bullying.

End Child Poverty

CPAG is the host organisation for the campaign to End Child Poverty - a coalition of 150 organisations from civic society including children’s charities, child welfare organisations, social justice groups, faith groups, trade unions and others, united in our vision of a UK free of child poverty.

Our press officer also handles queries on behalf of End Child Poverty and we can provide End Child Poverty spokespeople. Visit the End Child Poverty website.