Press release

Two EU nationals, a severely disabled man and his carer, have won a landmark Court of Appeal case against the DWP which establishes their right to support from universal credit. The judgment means that EU nationals with pre-settled status cannot be treated differently to UK citizens in relation to access to means-tested benefits. 

Low-income families with children are even worse off now than they were in the summer, the latest Poverty in the Pandemic report from Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and the Church of England shows. Nearly 9 in 10 families report a significant deterioration in their living standards because of the pandemic – up from 8 in 10 families who responded to an earlier survey between May and July 2020.

Prior to the pandemic, at least two in five school-age children - 1.3million - who lived below the UK’s poverty line were not entitled to free school meals, new analysis from Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) shows. All of these children are in families in low paid work but do not qualify because of stringent eligibility criteria, the analysis finds.

Official figures out today show the number of households subject to the benefit cap has reached 170,000, an increase of 8% since May 2020. Most of the increase is in London. The cap limits the total amount of benefits low-earning or non-working households can receive.

In response to the new Government funding agreement with TfL, Child Poverty Action Group and Age UK London said: “This is a fantastic victory for young and older Londoners, who made a powerful case for why holding on to free travel is so important. It’s right that children can get to school safely, and older people and families don’t have to worry about additional costs at this time of great financial uncertainty."

The Covid-19 temporary £20 per week increase in universal credit and working tax credits has enabled some low-paid working families with full-time jobs to get close to – or even just above – a minimum acceptable standard of living (or MIS, a no-frills, but adequate standard of living ), new research for Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) shows.

New analysis from Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) finds that over half of children in Wales who live below the UK poverty line are not entitled to free school meals. Of the 129,000 school-age children living below the poverty line in Wales, over 70,000 are not eligible, mainly because their parents are in low-paid jobs which take them over the eligibility threshold.

With child poverty likely to rise sharply as the UK enters a coronavirus recession, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and Greater London Authority (GLA) have produced a practical toolkit to help London schools tackle poverty in the classroom.

Young Londoners are travelling to Westminster today on an open-topped Routemaster bus to oppose the suspension of free travel in the city for 11-17 year olds – as a survey from Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) shows the suspension will force some families to cut back on daily living expenses – including food – while restricting children’s access to family, friends and out-of-school activities (see Notes to Editors for filming info/timings).

As many families prepare this week for a uniquely expensive return to school after lockdown, new research shows that in recent years parents have increasingly had to use their child benefit to cover utility bills and other bottom-line household costs.