News

An overview of key changes to the adequacy of social security benefits announced in the Pathways to Work green paper.

'Stealth social security cuts bring neither stability nor security to struggling families and will push child poverty even higher. Growth and better living standards are not achieved by taking money from families with the least. Government must invest in social security support - not cut it - for the most vulnerable, or risk being remembered as the Labour administration under whose watch child poverty continued to rise.'

The package of reforms set out yesterday will result in a net reduction in social security expenditure of £5 billion by 2029/30. This is the biggest cut to disability benefits in a generation, and will push children and families into poverty, and reduce living standards for many.

Response to UK SSWP's statement on sickness and disability benefit reform

The prime minister’s vital commitment to improved living standards for all would be shattered if disabled people are left behind.

In advance of the autumn Budget on 30 October, CPAG submitted evidence to the government on the steps needed to reduce child poverty.

Breakfast clubs are a welcome start but meeting Labour’s ambition to end child poverty will need much more from this government. And even with a pledge of no return to the past, austerity is the reality for more and more children as they’re hit by the two-child limit. The policy must be scrapped – and soon - if the Government is to deliver on its mission to reduce child poverty.

One in five children in poverty in Scotland still not eligible for a free school lunch.
Analysis a “stark reminder” of why Scottish government decision to halt universal free school meal roll out must be reversed

England has a much higher proportion of children in poverty who are ineligible for free school meals compared to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland but all nations can do more, new analysis from Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) reveals.

Across the UK, millions of children receive a free school meal (FSM) each day at school. But many miss out. Previous CPAG analysis estimated that, across England, 900,000 school-age children in poverty (one in three school-age children) don’t qualify for a FSM under either the national universal infant provision or means-tested schemes. This new piece of analysis shows how this compares to national FSM schemes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The analysis also looks at how this figure is broken down by region in England.