With child poverty in the UK reaching a record high of 4.5 million earlier this year, it is an urgent problem that needs to be tackled.
In our work we’ve heard directly from children and their families the changes they need to see a positive difference in their lives, and we are now urging the UK Government to invest more in children over the course of the current Parliament.
The first step in lifting children out of poverty in the UK was to scrap the two-child limit – a bold action that the UK Government announced in their Autumn Budget. A decision they made after hearing from children, young people, families and local practitioners working with families on low incomes. Something that Save the Children UK helped to facilitate with the UK Government's Child Poverty Taskforce as part of their work on the Child Poverty Strategy.
This means that by the end of this Parliament, almost half a million children will have been lifted out of poverty – thanks to this policy change alone.
That’s hundreds of thousands of families who will no longer be forced to choose between heating and eating, and more children getting the chance to thrive.
We look forward to carrying on our work with the Government to deliver on the child poverty strategy to tackle the systemic issues that hold way too many families back.
“Scrapping this unjust policy is the single most powerful step to reduce child poverty in a generation... this is a moment of hope for hard up families.” - Moazzam Malik, CEO of Save the Children UK
This is a change that you made happen – over 2,000 of our supporters emailed their MP about the two-child limit and another 2,500 signed the petition made by Parent Campaigner Thea. But whether you spoke out, donated, or simply believed in a fairer world for children – our supporters were part of this.
Our Policy Briefings
Our series of No Limits to Childhood briefings, on housing, childcare & education, social security, and family-friendly local economies, are available below.
Open Letter to the Chancellor
We've gathered the support of over 40 influential economists, academics and public policy experts as signatories on our open letter to the Chancellor and the Treasury, making the case that scrapping the two-child limit and the benefit cap in full at the upcoming Autumn Budget makes economic sense.
WE HEAR WHAT CHILDREN ARE TELLING US
In conversations across the country, children are speaking out about life in poverty - about empty cupboards, freezing homes, and the shame of going without.
We have a responsibility to listen, to act, and to make sure their futures aren’t defined by a postcode or a policy decision.
I think that no matter how many children you choose to have in this country, your children should be safe, they shouldn’t be living in poverty or affected by the cost of living crisis like we are, because they are the future.
-SCUK youth panel member
The two-child limit means that bigger families don’t have the money for things they need, like food, and things for school.
-SCUK youth panel member
It’s just morally wrong to have a cap on the number of children you have.
-SCUK youth panel member
What do people think of the two-child limit?
Public First conducted polling for Save the Children UK and UNICEF UK to understand attitudes to child poverty and the two-child limit.
Read the findings below.
