The launch of the Child Poverty Strategy today followed the chancellor's removal of the two-child benefit cap in the Autumn Budget.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the policy as his ‘moral mission', adding: ‘It's about fairness, opportunity, and unlocking potential. Our strategy isn't just about reversing the failures of the past, it sets a new course for national renewal, with children's life chances at its heart.'
The strategy entails a number of new policies including:
- more accessible childcare for working parents on Universal Credit
- ending the unlawful placement of families in Bed and Breakfasts beyond the six-week limit
- providing £950m through the fourth and largest round of the Local Authority Housing Fund from April 2026 to deliver up to 5,000 high-quality homes for better temporary accommodation by 2030
- a new legal duty for councils to notify schools, health visitors and GPs when a child is placed in temporary accommodation, so no child is left without support
- also support families with the cost of essentials by helping families to buy more affordable infant formula.
Reaction
Cllr Dr Wendy Taylor, chair of the LGA's Health and Wellbeing Committee, said: ‘Councils want to work with government and partners to combat child poverty. We are pleased this strategy recognises the importance of integrating local services including housing, health, and family support to better meet the needs of disadvantaged children. We are also pleased to see national measures aimed at reducing in-work poverty and making it easier for parents to access childcare and progress in work, which will improve outcomes and alleviate pressure on local hardship support.
‘The renewed emphasis on prevention in key areas including housing, social care, employment support and health, is a positive step. Councils will continue to work closely with government to identify ways in which integration and service reform can enable earlier intervention in the underlying causes of disadvantage.
‘However, without additional investment in these services – and a recognition that councils still face high levels of immediate demand in many acute services – it is hard to see how we will be able to achieve the step change that is needed to reverse current trends successfully.'
Helen Hayes, chair of the Education Select Committee and Debbie Abrahams, chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee said: ‘The committees will consider the strategy and set out the scope for our joint inquiry on this in the next few weeks.
‘We must ensure another generation of children isn't failed. We know child poverty is not inevitable.'
Tom Wernham, a senior research economist at the IFS, said: ‘The Government has not set an explicit numerical target for child poverty, beyond stating that it wants child poverty to fall. The policies included in the poverty strategy are expected to reduce child relative income poverty (after housing costs) by around 550,000 at the end of this Parliament – taking the rate of child poverty below where it was in 2010–11. 450,000 of this fall results from the reversal of the two-child limit announced at the Budget. Expansion of free school meals to all children in families on universal credit drives the rest of the fall in the headline poverty measure.'
Amrik Arshi, senior economist in the Healthy Lives Team at The Health Foundation, said: ‘We welcome this long-awaited strategy, which outlines actions to boost family incomes, reduce the cost of essentials, and starting to tackle the problem of too many children living in health-damaging temporary accommodation.
‘Tackling child poverty is a prescription for good health and reduced inequalities – with our health and wellbeing being built from our earliest years. The lifting of the two child limit was an important step to alleviate poverty now. But the strategy must deliver on a preventative approach that tackles the deep structural causes of poverty. Only then will we ensure that every child – now and in the future – has the opportunity to grow up with security and thrive.'
