Today, children are already twice as likely to be poor as pensioners. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, child poverty is set to soar to 5.1 million children by 2022 – a 42 per cent rise over ten years.
New cuts limiting universal credit to the first two children in a family – starting Thursday April 6th - will push another 200,000 children below the official poverty line, new analysis by CPAG and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) shows.
CPAG has responded to the government's consultation on exceptions to the two child limit for payments of tax credits and universal credit. CPAG is opposed to the policy in its entirety, because it will deny children their entitlement to the support needed to provide a decent standard of living, and is expected to increase child poverty.
This briefing explains the impact of the government's plans to cut tax credits on working families and child poverty. CPAG is opposed to cuts to tax credits because they will damage work incentives and increase child poverty.
On March 26th 2014, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith, was interviewed by Evan Davis on the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4.
At the Budget in March 2014, the government announced it would be amending the Charter for Budgetary Responsibility to implement a new 'welfare cap' policy.
This is CPAG’s response to a DWP consultation gathering views on its proposal to end, or at the very least limit, the production of take-up estimates for six key means-tested benefits
