In this comprehensive guide the authors set out the evidence of the extent of child poverty and its impact of children. They explore how our social security system can help families on low incomes, and learn from what other countries have done to tackle child poverty. They then detail the priorities for action: the steps the government must take to help reduce child poverty. The book finishes by imagining a society without child poverty, and the opportunities that would unleash for all our children.
Racial inequalities in child poverty are particularly stark, with over half of children from Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds likely to grow up in poverty. Economic structures that reinforce gender inequality and entrench systemic racism mean that certain groups, including women, children and Black and minority ethnic families are much more likely to be living in poverty.
Our interviews show that claimants did not have the information they needed or wanted to understand how moving to UC would affect them. Such misinformation and misunderstanding are likely to be reasons some people are not moving to UC despite having a strong financial incentive to do so.
Potential second earners in couple families, usually mothers, face high barriers to employment. Mothers typically face more barriers to work than fathers in couples, particularly because of issues relating to childcare and time spent out of the labour market due to caring responsibilities. To evaluate barriers to work faced by this group and identify solutions to these barriers, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) designed and delivered the Your Work Your Way project – an employment support scheme that worked with 70 potential second earners in couples.
The chancellor has done the bare minimum that is needed to prevent faster rises in child poverty. There are 4.2 million children living in poverty in the UK today. Ensuring benefits catch up with inflation, and increasing local housing allowance (LHA), will come as welcome news to the millions of families on the lowest incomes who have been left worried sick as speculation about benefit cuts and freezes played out in the news. Increasing these benefits should never have been in doubt, and we urge the government to ensure benefit uprating is placed on a statutory footing to avoid this process being repeated in future years.
In his Autumn Statement, the chancellor should invest in children by increasing social security benefits – reducing child poverty immediately and leading to higher long-term economic growth, as well as improved education and health outcomes, including life expectancy.