More than a million may face poverty in crisis, warns study

MORE THAN a million people could be “plunged into poverty” by the end of the year due to the coronavirus crisis, leading academics have warned today.

Analysis by the IPPR think tank said the economic fall-out of the lockdown would see the number of children living in poverty jump by 200,000, taking the total to 4.5m.

A separate report by the End Child Poverty coalition, published last month, showed families in parts of Yorkshire had been “pushed to breaking point” by a steady four year rise in child poverty.

The latest IPPR study said urgent action is needed from the Government to protect families from the financial hardship caused by the pandemic.

The think-tank said those newly forced to rely on Universal Credit will experience “a major hit to their living standards”.

It is feared this will be particularly damaging for households with high rents as a proportion of their incomes, or with debts and low levels of savings.

Clare McNeil, associate director with the IPPR.

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Clare McNeil, an associate director with the IPPR, said: “This analysis shows hundreds of thousands of families and their children who may have been ‘just about managing’ before Covid now face being plunged into poverty.

“The Government must apply the same level of ambition it had for supporting businesses and workers in the early stages of this crisis, to prevent a new generation of children and their families falling into poverty through no fault of their own.”

The IPPR has called on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to launch a package of measures to support families alongside funding for infrastructure and job creation.

Researchers called for the removal of the Universal Credit austerity measures, supporting family and carer incomes and investing in childcare to open up more options for parents to return to work.

Richard Burgon, the Labour MP for East Leeds, said families in his constituency were already living in “real hardship” due to previous austerity measures.

East Leeds was last month named among the worst 20 constituencies nationwide for increases in child poverty,

Mr Burgon said: “It would be totally unacceptable for people in our area to now be made to pay the price for the profits lost by big business during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Unless we have a ‘people’s bail-out’ to protect jobs and living standards, then even more people in our community will be pushed into financial difficulties and poverty through absolutely no fault of their own.”

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) stressed that the Government is “committed to supporting the most vulnerable in society throughout the current emergency and beyond”.

A DWP spokesman highlighted £6.5bn of funding which has been invested in the welfare system, including increasing Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by up to £1,040 a year.

Families could fall into poverty through no fault of their own.