What is in the UK government’s child poverty strategy?

Keir Starmer has hailed his government’s plan to tackle child poverty as a “moral mission”, with a promise to lift half a million children out of hardship.

It is the first such document in more than a decade and was described by the Resolution Foundation thinktank as a “sea change” in the government’s approach to children in poverty.

The plan was promised in spring, but delayed as cabinet ministers thrashed out a way to lift the two-child limit on universal credit. It appears to have been worth the wait for many Labour MPs, who are very happy about Rachel Reeves’s announcement at the budget that the cap would go. These are the key points from the strategy and the impact they will have:

1. Lifting the two-child benefit limit

This is the key plank of the strategy as it will have by far the biggest and fastest effect. The figures suggest that it will lift 300,000 children out of relative poverty by 2027, rising to 450,000 by 2031. The Resolution Foundation says there will simultaneously be some poverty-producing measures, such as the freeze in local housing allowance, but it still projected 300,000 fewer children living in poverty by the end of the parliament, arguing this would make the government’s record “not that far shy of that achieved by the first Blair administration”.
2. Extension of eligibility for free school meals

This was announced some time ago but is still a key measure to reduce child poverty. From September next year, more than half a million additional pupils in England will become eligible for free school meals if they come from a family in receipt of universal credit above the current £7,400 income cap. The existing provision already covers 2.1 million disadvantaged children. Estimates in the child poverty strategy suggest it will help lift 100,000 children out of poverty by 2028.
3. Free breakfast clubs

The key Labour manifesto pledge to provide free breakfast clubs for primary schoolchildren in England is under way. The government recently announced offers from Weetabix, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s for early adopter schools. “These partnerships will maximise the impact of our free breakfast clubs, making it work better for all schools and ensuring every child has access to a variety of nutritious food whilst freeing up time,” it said.
4. New efforts to end temporary accommodation within six weeks

In some areas, there will be a pilot programme to ensure homeless families in temporary B&B accommodation are moved into permanent homes within six weeks. The £8m scheme will be trialled in 20 council areas, with the aim of expanding it if successful. There will also be a new duty for councils to inform schools, GPs and health visitors when a child is put in temporary accommodation with their family. In a parallel policy strand, ministers will work with the NHS to prevent mothers with newborn babies being discharged back to B&B hostels or other similarly unsuitable housing.

The most recent figures for England showed there were 2,070 households with children that had been in bed-and-breakfast accommodation for more than six weeks. By law, such accommodation is meant to be used only as a temporary measure in an emergency and for no longer than six weeks.
5. Introducing a new measure of ‘deep material poverty’

One of the criticisms of the policy is that there is a lack of a binding target for the government but its estimates that more than 500,00 children will be lifted out of relative poverty will be seen as a benchmark. Some experts are sceptical that figure will be reached. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said there was “considerable uncertainty over how large a reduction in measured poverty these policies will ultimately deliver, partly due to genuine economic uncertainty”.

However, alongside the estimates of children in relative poverty there will also be a new measure of “deep material poverty”. The first statistics show about 2 million children are in this situation. It is a new measure of those children who are the most deprived according to which essentials they are forced to do without. Experts believe this will also be a valuable measure of whether the government’s policies are working, if it is significantly reduced over time.
6. Making it easier to choose cheaper baby formula

Ministers have moved to make sure parents know that all baby formula contains the same ingredients, so there is no need to buy more expensive brands. Under the changes, the government will accept the recommendations made in February by the Competition and Markets Authority intended to help inform parents about baby formula products that are cheaper than the best-known brands, such as nutritionally identical supermarket own-brand ones. The measures will include rules setting out that all infant formula products must be displayed together in shops.
7. Extending availability of upfront childcare costs

A rule change from next year will increase eligibility for upfront childcare costs to people returning from parental leave, which it said would make it easier for new parents who receive universal credit to get back to work.

The high upfront cost of childcare can be a barrier to people moving into employment. The government says this measure will prevent new parents from facing a debt trap, meaning more parents can get back to work and get on in work faster.
8. Improving the child maintenance system

The government has vowed to overhaul the child maintenance service, promising a new system in the next few years with an improved ability to identify and act on non-compliance. It will halve the fees for those using the service, while maintaining a 20% fee for non-resident parents who refuse to pay up on time and in full. It said parents will be able to choose whether to move to the new service, or get improved support to make and maintain a family-based arrangement.