Labour has announced a comprehensive child poverty action plan, central to which is the lifting of the two-child benefits cap, a policy introduced by the Tories in 2017. The change, announced in last week's budget, will allow families to access welfare payments for more than two children from April. This move is expected to lift 550,000 children out of poverty, according to the government.
The plan has been welcomed by parents, charities, and case workers, as approximately 4.5 million children in the UK are currently living in poverty, with two million in households unable to afford essentials like food, housing, and heating. The scrapping of the benefits cap is the primary measure, but additional steps include making it easier for Universal Credit recipients to access upfront childcare costs, an £8 million pledge to move families out of bed and breakfast accommodation, and a new legal duty for councils to inform schools and doctors when a child enters temporary accommodation.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, speaking at a childcare centre in Wales, described the plan as the 'single biggest initiative taken on child poverty from any government'. He emphasised that poverty is the biggest barrier to children's success and that the plan aims to drive 'generational change'. The PM noted that 70,000 children in Wales alone will benefit from the cap removal.
However, critics point out that the government has not committed to a binding or statutory target for poverty reduction. A think tank highlighted 'considerable uncertainty over how large a reduction in measured poverty these policies will ultimately deliver', while researchers noted many families still cannot access benefits at all.
