Record numbers of children are set to live in poverty
CHILD poverty risks hitting record levels in the next few years amid “stagnating” living standards for households, a new study suggests.
The Resolution Foundation said the incomes of typical working-age households are not forecast to rise materially over the next two years.
The think-tank said the “bleak” forecast is mainly driven by weak pay growth, which is projected to remain below pre-crisis levels of four per cent despite recent increases.
Ongoing welfare cuts are set to cause a “sharp rise” in relative child poverty, so that by the end of the current Parliament the proportion of children living in relative poverty is on course to hit 37%, said the foundation.
It added that, by the end of the current Parliament, most children in single parent families or in those with more than two children, could be living in relative poverty.
Adam Corlett, senior economic analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: “UK households have already taken a £1,500 a year hit to their incomes, compared to pre-referendum expectations. There’s now a huge risk that their incomes stagnate over the next few years, as the economy’s pay performance struggles to get out of first gear.
“The outlook for low and middle income families is particularly tough, with ongoing benefit cuts set to drive down income levels and drive up child poverty. The economic outlook is highly uncertain, and will hopefully surprise on the upside, but whatever direction the economy takes, the government must reassess the continuation of working-age welfare cuts.
Campbell Robb, chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, added: “The continuing failure to get to grips with rising child poverty seriously undermines what we stand for as a country. More and more children are going to school hungry, having to go without a proper winter coat or living in a family who are unable to afford a decent home. It is within the Government’s power to stem the rising tide of child poverty before it reaches a record high. The benefits freeze is the single biggest policy pushing families into hardship. Low-income families cannot afford another year of their support falling.”
Child Poverty Action Group’s director of policy Louisa Mcgeehan, said: “After years of deep social security cuts we are on the cusp of a child poverty crisis which will damage both the life chances of a generation and the wider economy.”