Hopefully there is now a clear understanding across Government that unless the two-child limit is scrapped, there will be more children in poverty at the end of this parliament than when Labour took office. The policy must go in the Autumn child poverty strategy before the life chances of many more children are damaged on this government’s watch.
Low-income families and disabled people were, at most, an afterthought during the pandemic, with government’s primary intention to support higher income households who had a sudden loss of income, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) told Baroness Hallett as she chaired the second preliminary hearing of Module 9 of the Covid inquiry today.
This briefing looks at the difference that local authority support and guidance can make to Cost of the School Day approaches in schools. Arlene Black, Pupil Equity Fund Officer with West Lothian Council and Cost of the School Day Lead for the local authority, describes the approach the council has taken to this work, and the impact it is having on children, families and schools.
Latest Welsh government free school meal (FSM) statistics show a fall of 6,000 in the number of children registered for means-tested FSMs in Wales. The fall in the number of children registered means that 25,000 children in poverty in secondary schools now miss out on any form of FSM.
Secondary school children from low-income families are starting the new school year bounced out of some subjects and learning by costs, research from CPAG shows.
This briefing details how the current phase of managed migration is continuing to present significant difficulties for claimants, with the result that many lose out on income and face potential hardship.
