Prior to COVID-19, there were more than four million children living in poverty in the UK – that’s nine children in a classroom of 30. In London, that number rises to 11. While the full economic impact of the pandemic is yet to be seen, we know that low-income households are bearing the brunt, and for families living in the capital things are likely to get worse before they get better. Even prior to COVID-19, the high cost of rent, childcare and travel made it very difficult for London families on low incomes to cover basic costs. In addition, families with children have been hit the hardest by cuts to the social security system, squeezing family budgets even further. In the face of this, our public services have a crucial role to play in tackling child poverty and ensuring children and families recover from the pandemic.
One of the principles that CPAG espouses in its Secure Futures project is that social security should protect people in vulnerable circumstances. Recent tragedies highlight where the system is currently falling short, but what is being done to protect people and ensure they always have enough resources to avoid squalor, starvation and suicide?
An anonymous civil servant was quoted in the press on 26 March as saying that the coronavirus crisis ‘could be the making of universal credit’. What has happened in recent months to universal credit (UC), which has been seen as the key answer in terms of benefits to difficulties during the COVID-19 crisis?
With Marcus Rashford’s successful campaign to extend their provision into the summer holidays this year, free school meals are back on the agenda. But what about universal provision? The universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) programme was introduced in 2014 in England. What impact has UIFSM had on disadvantaged school children?
Coronavirus has turned the lives of families with children upside down. Many parents have lost jobs or been furloughed and many schools and childcare facilities have largely been closed, leaving those still in work facing the impossible task of balancing work with childcare and home schooling. These challenges are particularly acute for low-income families. This new report from CPAG and the Church of England offers an important insight into the day-to-day struggles that families have been dealing with, as well as their strength and resilience in managing such an array of challenges on a limited income.
To understand the impact of child poverty on the lives of children and families in England better, CPAG, the Child Welfare Inequalities Project (CWIP) and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) conducted a survey of social workers between January and March 2020 to ask them about the experiences of the families they work with.
This report focuses on social security issues during lock down, highlighting problems making and maintaining claims without support, difficulties participating telephone assessments and appeals, some PIP awards stopping and uncertainty about whether others would be extended, a number of severely disabled and terminally ill people not receiving additional amounts they were entitled to and a gap in support for some carers.
This report concentrates on the impact of COVID 19 on families living in Scotland and highlights that many families are struggling financially due to inadequate support from the social security system and/or being unable to work while schools and childcare providers are closed.
This report concentrates on the impact of COVID 19 on migrants living in Scotland and highlights social security policy and administration has left some migrants with little or no income during the pandemic.
To understand how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted children’s experience of learning, we conducted some research through surveys and interviews. We gathered the experiences of 3,600 parents and carers, along with 1,300 children and young people, with an emphasis on the experiences of low-income households. We found that the cost burdens of school closures have fallen most heavily on families already living on a low income.
2020 will almost certainly be remembered as the year of coronavirus, but 2020 was supposed to be a milestone year for more positive reasons. In 1999, in a speech at Toynbee Hall in east London, prime minister Tony Blair named 2020 as the target year for ending child poverty. To mark the year child poverty was to have been ended, academics, policy analysts and practitioners have contributed to a collection of essays for CPAG on effective approaches to tackling child poverty: 2020 Vision: ending child poverty for good.
