Latest news with #ChildPovertyActionGroup
Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mirror
'I don't know how I'm going to put food on table let alone days out in summer holidays'
Almost half of parents (48%) are more worried about being able to afford things for their children this summer holiday compared to last year, grim research shows Almost half of parents (48%) are more worried about being able to afford things for their children this summer holiday compared to last year, grim research shows. This rises to 69% for lone parents, a survey by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) found. Some 45% of parents say the cost of childcare is a challenge over the summer and 29% say they have to borrow money or go into debt to cover these costs, the study found. Parents said they will struggle to pay for food and snacks and other basics for their children, such as sun cream, as well as fun activities like sports clubs, a trip to the beach or small treats like an ice cream. Some 44% of parents said they will likely use a foodbank this summer holiday and two in five families (39%) said they would likely use a clothing bank. And more than half of parents (52%) said they were worried about the continued pressure on living standards taking a toll on their children's mental health this summer, while 48% said they were worried about their child's physical health. One parent told the survey: 'I don't know how I'm going to put food on table let alone days out.' One mum, speaking about their son, said: 'The money is just enough to pay the bills and buy essentials. I do feel for him because as a family we can't enjoy outings or short breaks during the summer holidays (which were fun at one time).' Another parent added: 'It [the summer holiday] should be a happy time, but for many people, it's just another mountain to climb. I wish there was more low-cost or free help for families during the holidays. We do our best, but it doesn't always feel like it's enough.' Head of education policy at CPAG Kate Anstey called for the two-child benefit limit to be scrapped. CPAG research estimates that ditching the Tory-era policy, which restricts claims for Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit to the first two children, would lift 350,000 children out of poverty and mean 700,000 children are in less deep poverty. Ms Anstey said: 'This research shows there will be more worry than wonder this summer for millions of desperate families who can't make ends meet. Ministers have promised better living standards and opportunity for all but with children facing another summer cut off from fun and friends - much more action is clearly needed. 'Government's autumn child poverty strategy must restore investment in support for families – including abolition of the two-child limit – otherwise a generation of children will be left behind.' A government spokesman said: 'We recognise the school holidays can be a pressurised time for parents, which is why this government is putting pounds back in parents' pockets both during the holidays and in term time. 'We are also continuing to fund free holiday clubs through the Holiday Activities and Food programme which provides six weeks of activities and meals for any child from a low-income family who needs it.' ::: Survation surveyed 1,580 UK parents on income-related benefits with at least one child aged 4-18 years for CPAG between July 10-17.
Scoop
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Inflation Numbers Expose Govt's Economic Failure
Today's inflation numbers reveal more than rising prices; they expose a government failing by its own standards while our most vulnerable pay the price. 'While Christopher Luxon talks about growth at all costs, New Zealanders across the country are being forced to choose between heating their home or feeding their families,' says Green Party Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. 'We can build an economy that works for people and planet, but that requires decisions that prioritise the wellbeing of all, instead of lining the pockets of those at the top. 'Luxon's Government is cutting investment and creating the conditions for severe unemployment, shredding the social safety net, pushing thousands into poverty, and then punishing them for it. 'A report this morning from the Child Poverty Action Group showed that rent, food, and utilities now swallow 62 – 98 per cent of disposable income for beneficiary families and over 60 per cent for full-time minimum-wage workers. 'A Green Government will do things differently. Instead of taxpayer subsidies for new gas fields in the middle of the climate crisis and slashing investment in our communities - we would rapidly reduce emissions, reduce the cost of living, and improve New Zealanders' quality of life. 'Christopher Luxon shows people who he works for in his actions every day. While telling regular people there's 'no magic money tree,' he's found billions for military spending, fossil fuel, tobacco, and landlord tax cuts. 'Luxon's Government now has the gall to blame Local Government, who have had their credit ratings downgraded because Luxon's Government pulled the rug out on fixing our water infrastructure. 'A better world is possible, and it starts with the sun setting on this one term Government,' says Chlöe Swarbrick. Notes: CPAG released a report today which found that 'Between 2018 and 2024, policy changes slowly reduced the number of households in weekly shortfall. From 2024 to 2025, the trend reverses." The CPAG report also found that "Rent, food, and utilities now swallow 62 – 98 per cent of disposable income for beneficiary families and over 60% for full-time minimum-wage workers"
Scoop
3 days ago
- General
- Scoop
Families Below The Income Floor Face Growing Crisis
Many low income households across Aotearoa are now living below the income floor, with increasingly fewer households able to cover the bare essentials, according to new research released today by Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG). The research builds on modelling by the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) and extends it to cover varying levels of income and expenses across 39 different household types over eight years, revealing that the vast majority remain in persistent and growing deficits. These deficits mean incomes are failing to meet both core living costs and the costs needed to meaningfully participate in society, placing thousands of children at risk of entrenched hardship. "This modelling shows that our society is seriously failing children who live in low-income households. Families continue to be locked in poverty and unable to break through the constraints of the income floor", said CPAG Research and Programmes Officer Dr Harry Yu Shi. The project tracked single adults, couples and sole parents on income support or in low-wage work from 2018 to 2026. Despite periodic increases to benefits and wages, the research finds that income support and the minimum wage have not kept pace with rising living costs. Key findings include: Minimum wage no longer guarantees adequacy: Couples with two children working 40 hours on minimum wage are already in deficit in 2025. By 2026, even a combined total of 60 hours of work will not be enough to lift them above the income floor. Sole parents facing severe shortfalls: Sole parents with three children in private rentals are $170 short each week of meeting basic costs, leaving them far below the income floor regardless of whether they receive Best Start support or not. Rising hardship over time: While incomes improved modestly between 2021 and 2024, the research shows the households we modelled are now universally worse off from 2025 onwards. Housing costs pushing families deeper into deficit: Couples on Jobseeker Support with two children and average rental costs are more than $300 per week short. Single adults not spared: Those on Jobseeker or Supported Living Payment are nearly $100 per week below the income floor needed for basic necessities. "The evidence is clear: even working full time or combining wages with benefits is no longer enough to enable families to break free of the constraints of poverty," said Dr Harry Yu Shi. "The income floor is rising and families are being pushed under it by increasing rents, food costs and stagnant supports. Without urgent action, more children will grow up locked out of the opportunities every New Zealander deserves." The research also highlights that improvements achieved following the 2021 Wellbeing Budget have been reversed. All 39 households modelled are on a trajectory of worsening deficits by 2026, regardless of income type or household size. CPAG is calling for immediate increases to core benefit rates, stronger indexing to living costs and policies to lift working incomes. "We cannot accept a system where our children are unable to flourish because the powerful currents of our economy force families to live below the income floor," said CPAG Research and Programmes Officer Dr Harry Yu Shi. The next stage of this research projects aims to use Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) to establish how many real households fit into each category, and therefore, the true scale of this issue. Notes: - Based on the Welfare Expert Advisory Group's 2019 principles, the income floor refers to the minimum level of income needed for individuals and families to meet their basic needs and participate meaningfully in their communities. This level must also be maintained over time to keep pace with rising costs. - Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) is launching a campaign to raise awareness of the 'income floor' - the minimum income needed to live and belong - and how many households in Aotearoa are now falling below it.
Daily Mirror
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Nearly 1.7 million kids impacted by two-child benefit limit
Keir Starmer is under fresh pressure to scrap the 'brutal' two-child benefit limit - you can use our interactive map to see how many children are impacted by the policy in each constituency Almost 1.7million children are living in households affected by the two-child benefit limit, grim data shows. Keir Starmer is under fresh pressure to scrap the 'brutal' Tory-era policy, which is blamed for pushing hundreds of thousands of kids into poverty. Campaigners said children across the UK are going for days without a hot meal, sleeping in rooms covered in black mould or going to school in shoes that don't fit. Official data on Thursday showed 1,665,540 children living in the households in England, Wales and Scotland were affected by the limit in April 2025, an increase of almost 40,000 - 37,150 - compared to the same time last year. There were a total of 469,780 households on Universal Credit affected by the policy - an increase of 13,520 (3%) from the total number of households affected in April 2024. More than half (59%) of households affected by the policy are in work, the data showed. But the impact of the policy isn't felt evenly across the country, with more than two in every five kids in some constituencies living in households affected by the two-child limit. There were a total of 10,900 children living in households impacted by the two-child limit in the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency, which is held by Labour 's Diane Abbott. That works out as 42% of children living in the area, which is a higher proportion than in any parliamentary constituency in Great Britain. Birmingham Ladywood has 11,940 children impacted by the policy, which is a higher total than anywhere else in the country. It works out at 34% of children living in the area, which is the second highest proportion in Britain. In Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North, 9,920 kids live in households impacted (31% of the total number living there), while in Bradford East the total is 9,200 (21% of all children), in Tottenham it's 7,890 (29%), in Bethnal Green and Stepney it's 6,790 (also 29%), in Birmingham Yardley it's 8,030 (again 29%), and in Walsall and Bloxwich it's 8,030 (also 29%). You can see how many children are impacted by the policy in each constituency by using our interactive map. The map also shows you which MP and party currently controls the seat. Many Labour MPs oppose the two-child limit, which could become a new focal point for tensions between backbenchers and Downing Street. The policy, introduced in 2017, restricts claims for Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit to the first two children. Children's charities say the policy pushes 109 children across the UK into poverty every day. Ditching the police would lift 350,000 children out of poverty and mean 700,000 children are in less deep poverty, according to estimates from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG). Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson last weekend said axing the two-child benefit is still on the table, with the Government's child poverty strategy looking at 'every lever' to lift children out of hardship. But she admitted removing the policy would be harder to do after a major climbdown on the Government's welfare cuts, which has left a £5billion hole in Rachel Reeves's spending plans. Ms Phillipson said: "The decisions that have been taken in the last week do make decisions, future decisions harder. But all of that said, we will look at this collectively in terms of all of the ways that we can lift children out of poverty." Ministers will publish their child poverty strategy in autumn. The Children's Commissioner has warned that children in Britain are facing 'Dickensian levels' of poverty, going without basic needs like heating, a place to wash or somewhere to eat breakfast. In a grim report released on Tuesday, Dame Rachel de Souza said some kids are living in awful housing conditions, with rats, mould and no water, and in dangerous areas with no safe transport route to get to school. Almost a third of children (31%) in the UK - around 4.5 million kids - are living in poverty. Joseph Howes, chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition, insisted scrapping the two-child benefit limit is "the lever that needs pulling first". He added: "We have heard the Government say that they are looking at all 'the available levers' to reduce child poverty. 'We all know that this is the lever that needs pulling first - backed up by the Government's own data released today. It's time for the Government to act." Lord John Bird, Big Issue founder and crossbench peer, said: "When we hear warnings of children in the 21st century living in Dickensian levels of poverty, we must call this what it is: a poverty crisis. And Government policy that creates this crisis cannot be tolerated." Dan Paskins, an executive director at Save the Children UK, described the figures as 'devastating and shameful in equal measure'. Almost 40,000 more children are now being punished just for having siblings,' he said 'Behind every number is a child missing out on essentials like food, clothing and a decent home, through no fault of their own. No child should be treated as less deserving simply because of when they were born. There is no way to reduce child poverty in this parliament without scrapping the two-child limit.' Alison Garnham, chief executive of CPAG, said: 'Giving all kids the best start in life will be impossible until government scraps this brutal policy - and a year after the election families can't wait any longer for the help they desperately need.' Lynn Perry, chief executive of Barnardo's, said: 'We welcome recent announcements from the government about the expansion of free school meals and the roll out of family hubs to every local authority in the country. But without immediate action, child poverty will simply continue to rise. Hundreds more children will be pulled into poverty with every week this continues.'
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'I had my Universal Credit cut on Mother's Day, the government's two-child limit makes me feel like a failure'
A single mother who had her universal credit payment cut on mother's day said the government made her feel "like a failure as a parent" instead of protecting her by scrapping the UK's most damaging benefits policy for children. Mother-of-three Thea Jaffe is from one of the 450,000 households in the UK that are struggling because of the the two-child-benefit limit, which caps benefit payments to cover only the first two children a family has. The policy, first brought in by the Conservative government in 2017, was justified as a measure to encourage parents to only have children they could afford without state support. Charities and campaigners like Save the Children, Trussell Trust and Child Poverty Action Group have continued to urged the government to scrap the limit, and said that removing it is the most cost effective way to lift children out of poverty. A letter the charities sent to the government earlier this month warned that the two-child limit has already pulled 37,000 children into poverty since the government took office, and every day 109 more children face the same plight. The Labour manifesto pledged to abolish the cap "when financial conditions permit", but no firm commitment or timetable has been set. The Scottish government announced it will scrap the limit from March 2026. Initially, the prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, ruled out scrapping the cap, emphasising fiscal constraints and suspending MPs who voted to remove it with the SNP after the 2024 election. However, in recent months, the government's stance has softened. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson and the prime minister have both indicated that scrapping the cap is "not off the table" and that the government "will look at" lifting it as part of a broader child poverty strategy that is due out later this year. For parents like Thea, even earning a good wage does not protect her family from the continuous damage caused by the cap. "I consider myself pretty lucky in a way. I have a great job, I work for a really good company, and my income is £45,000 pounds a year before taxes," she told Yahoo News. "But I'm living proof that you can have a good job with a good salary and still struggle, and that is not a that is not a good outcome for somebody that's being pushed into work by universal credit," she added. Calculating her incomings and outgoings is essential if Jaffe wants to make it through the month. She said: "I'm in the area of north London I've lived in since 2009, rent for my one-bed apartment is £2000 a month. "Childcare for my two youngest children, who are a baby and a toddler, is £2600 a month. I'm bringing in £2800 a month from my employer. Added to that the after-school club for my 10-year-old, who is in year five, is £300 a month. "Already like we've got a problem. Already, I need universal credit... "Added to the £2800 a month I'm bringing in from my employer, it is tight, but we can make ends meet at push. But then, disaster struck," she added. For Thea, this disaster meant she missed out on her universal credit payment because she paid her nursery bill six hours late — upending her payments for the month. She said: "My baby got sick when around the time when I was supposed to pay the nursery bill in February, so I accidentally paid the nursery bill six hours after the universal credit assessment period ended." "The DWP refused to reimburse me for that child care payment in that assessment period, which is one calendar month. "I was told, don't worry we'll pay you in the next assessment period, but I already paid the nursery bill, so I needed the money then," she added. The knock-on effect was felt later on that year when Jaffe needed to travel to the US for work. She brought her children with her, as she had family who could assist her in the country with childcare. It was then she returned to a letter on mother's day from the DWP telling her her universal credit payments would be reduced because she had spent four weeks abroad. She said: "I was made to feel like I'd gone on a summer holiday, but I was getting support for child care. I still had rent to pay, and nursery bills to meet to ensure my children kept their places. "I don't know how they did this because I don't know that they work on Sundays — but I was just devastated. I was crying my eyes out in private because I didn't want my kids to see me. "I felt like a failure at everything, like there's no safe place in the world for me to be a parent," she added. Jaffe said she wants the government to understand not just the challenges faced by families damaged by the two-child limit, but single parents. She said: "You've got half the earning potential of a two-parent family. If you're just one parent there's only so much you can do, and also because your time is so limited. "One thing I want people to understand about in work poverty is that I'm headed from a corporate conference to a food bank. It's logistically and emotionally challenging. "Food banks are not nearby, and they are only open at certain times. You are not only faced with not having enough money, but not enough time," she added. Save the Children, who has worked with Jaffe to support her campaign, has urged the government to take action. "Every day the two-child limit remains in place, more and more children are dragged into poverty," Priya Edwards, senior policy and advocacy adviser for Save the Children UK, told Yahoo News. "Regardless of what else the UK government does in the spending review to support children, if this policy stays, child poverty will continue to rise to record levels." Jaffe is now so frustrated by the government delaying scrapping the limit that she has launched a government petition to remove the two-child limit and the benefit cap. "Sometimes when I speak to those affected by two child limit, they say it's their fault. The system brainwashes parents into thinking these problems are our fault," Jaffe said. "But by parenting, you're doing an amazing service to society. You're raising the next generation. It shouldn't be that the next generation is just the children of very rich people. "Our kids are looking at a very grim future if we don't change things right now." The government has been approached for comment.
