3.6m children in poverty
ABOUT 3.6 million children are still living in poverty in the UK, new figures show.
Research carried out by Loughborough University for the End Child Poverty Coalition found the total was down 200,000 (2 per cent) on the year before, but the proportion of children in poverty had risen in some regions.
Dr Juliet Stone, from the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) at Loughborough, said: “During 2020/21, a period of great disruption in many areas of life in the UK due to the Covid-19 pandemic, child poverty remained a major issue across the UK despite the additional support provided to low-income families via the £20 uplift to universal credit.
“There was wide variation between areas in the impact of this policy and of the trends in child poverty.
“In particular, areas affected by already high rates of unemployment and in-work poverty, particularly in the North East of England and in Wales, saw substantial increases in child poverty.
“The stark local and regional variation in child poverty rates, presented in this report suggest that the government’s levelling up agenda has a long way to go where child poverty is concerned.”
The analysis covered the period from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021, at which point families were in receipt of the £20 universal credit uplift, which experts said is likely to be the reason why the numbers slightly declined in this period.
There is now significant fear that with the £20 removed, next year’s results for the year 2021/22 will see a rise in child poverty levels. Even with the government’s cost of living support package announced in May, some of the measures proposed were temporary and will only remedy the recent price hike in energy bills and rising prices. They do not respond to the real terms cuts families have experienced for years.
Joseph Howes, chairman of the End Child Poverty Coalition, said: “The additional £20 support from the government during the Covid crisis does appear to have affected the figures positively in most areas.
“This shows that change is possible, these levels of child poverty do not have to be the norm.
“There will always be conflicting government priorities, but surely the wellbeing of the most vulnerable children in our society should be front and centre, particularly as we go through the most severe period of price rises for 40 years.
“It remains incredibly worrying that at a moment like this there is nothing in the government’s levelling up strategy on this issue. We must see a national child poverty strategy created. It is heartbreaking there isn’t one when we can see evidence shows change really is possible.
“It still feels like we are on the edge of a precipice. There is significant concern the numbers of children in poverty will now rise again sharply with families facing huge cost increases in the coming months.”
The coalition is calling on the government to continue to find ways of making social security more adequate in the long term.
It wants:
For those on universal credit, deductions should be reduced and the benefit cap removed;
Improve access to free or affordable childcare;
Ensure free school meals in England and Wales are extended to all children in families receiving universal credit.
Dan Paskins, director of UK Impact at Save The Children and vice-chairman of the coalition, said: “It’s an outrage that child poverty figures in this country remain so high.”
FIGURE DOWN SLIGHTLY ON PREVIOUS YEAR BUT EXPECTED TO RISE AGAIN