8 things to lift 1 million children from poverty

4 things the Government can do today

  • The two-child limit restricts support in universal credit and tax credits to two children in a family. The two-child limit breaks the link between what children need and the support they receive.

    What the Government can do: Removing the two-child limit would lift 250,000 children out of poverty and mean 850,000 children are in less deep poverty.

  • The benefit cap restricts the amount of support a working-age household can receive from the social security system. Those most likely to be capped are lone parents, large families and families with young children.

    What the Government can do: Abolishing the cap would mean that about 250,000 children would be living in less deep poverty.

  • Debts, including money owed to utility companies, council tax, rent and court fines are automatically deducted from people's benefit payments. These deductions make it even more difficult for families to make ends meet.

    What the Government can do: Lowering the maximum deduction rate from 25 per cent of the universal credit standard allowance to 15 per cent would provide up to £37 more a month for a lone parent.

  • Child benefit provides a secure income source to families, helping to prevent and reduce child poverty. Since 2010 child benefit has lost 25 per cent of its value.

    What the Government can do: Child benefit should be increased by £20 per child a week. It is welcome that The Govermmeht has scrapped the higher-income charge to make child benefit universal again.

4 things the Government can do over time

  • Free school meals (FSMs) are school lunches provided to children across the UK. The current eligibility for means-tested FSMs is stringent, meaning 900,000 children in poverty in England alone miss out.

    What the Government can do: Free school meals should be available to all children at all stages of schooling.

  • The value of working-age benefits and children’s benefits have been regularly either frozen or increased below inflation since 2010, failing to provide an adequate standard of living and reflect the needs of children and families today.

    What the Government can do: Introduce a statutory duty to uprate all benefits, and related thresholds, by prices or earnings, whichever is higher.

  • Child maintenance can be an important source of income for lone-parent families and help to reduce poverty. It is estimated that if all maintenance due was paid in full, 60 per cent of UK children currently not benefiting from maintenance would be lifted out of poverty.

    What the Government can do: There should be a review of the Child Maintenance Service, including charges and enforcement measures, explicitly focusing on reducing child poverty in lone-parent families.

  • ‘No recourse to public funds’ is a condition attached to visa conditions for many migrants. It restricts access to most benefits, and many of the families affected struggle to make ends meet.

    What the Government can do: Removing the 'no recourse to public funds' condition for families with children would help 175,000 children.