‘It’s good to hear that ending child poverty is central for Labour, but the best way to achieve that is by ending the two-child limit on benefits which is driving so many children into hardship. A child poverty reduction plan is essential, but scrapping the two-child limit would have to be step one.'
With child poverty at a record high, the prime minister has now clearly decided that making kids poor is his political priority. After covid and the cost of living crisis, struggling families need a helping hand not another kick in the teeth.
In line with inflation, today benefits are being uprated by 6.7 per cent. For the first time in four years, the local housing allowance has gone up, improving housing support for many private renters. But one group will not see any improvement in support at all: around 77,000 families are affected by the ‘benefit cap'.
Our pre-Budget briefing details how best to invest financial support in children to reduce child poverty and give every child the chance to fulfil their potential.
The Chancellor’s decisions to uprate benefits in line with inflation and to restore local housing allowance rates to the 30th percentile of rents were welcome, despite coming wrapped in punitive rhetoric, and accompanied by yet another ramping up of benefit sanctions. Increasing benefit rates and support with rent costs will make a difference to many families continuing to struggle with rising prices, who approach this winter terrified about how they will get by. But, sadly, these changes will provide absolutely no help to the over 85,000 households affected by the benefit cap, who will receive not one penny more.
It’s right that benefits are uprated as usual but this should never have been in doubt and legislation mandating inflationary increases is needed as a basic protection for living standards. Struggling families have been worrying themselves sick for months about whether an unmanageable income cut was coming in order to provide the government with a rabbit-out-of-the-hat moment.
CPAG in Scotland’s Early Warning System has been operating for ten years! Over Challenge Poverty Week we are looking back at some of the social security events in this period, key findings from the Early Warning System and how they have influenced policy and practise.