Child Poverty Action Group applauds the Mayor of London’s decision to provide free school meals to all London’s primary school children for another year if he wins a third term.
The First Minister said during his leadership campaign that he wanted to see the Scottish child payment rise to £30 per week in his first budget. It is bitterly disappointing for struggling families that he has failed to deliver.
Campaigners at the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland are calling for tax and spending decisions to do more to prioritise hard up families ahead of tomorrow’s Scottish budget.
High inflation pushed the cost of raising a child to £166,000 for a couple and £220,000 for a lone parent in 2023 but the enduring impact of benefit cuts and ongoing price rises have left many parents unable to give their children what the public says is a minimum acceptable living standard, new research shows.
Over 150 charities, faith groups, trade unions and civic organisations sign open letter urging First Minister to use Scottish budget to invest more to meet child poverty targets.
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.
Ahead of the Autumn Statement, organisations representing children’s doctors, school leaders and social workers have joined Child Poverty Action Group in calling on the Chancellor to uprate benefits from April at least in line with September’s inflation rate as usual.
A landmark ruling in the Court of Appeal has held that the government is required to consider the fundamental rights of EU citizens and their families residing in the UK, including their right to live in dignified conditions, before refusing universal credit support.
As the Government’s Autumn cost of living payment starts to hit doormats from today, Child Poverty Action Group and Changing Realities warn that they won’t be enough to prevent more hardship for families with children this winter.
