Child poverty strategy unveiled - but not everyone's happy

A new long-awaited child poverty strategy is promising to lift half a million children out of poverty by the end of this parliament - but critics have branded it unambitious.  The headline announcement in the government's plan is the pledge to lift the two-child benefit cap, announced in Rachel Reeves's budget last week.

It also includes: • Providing upfront childcare support for parents on universal credit returning to work• An £8m fund to end the placement of families in bed and breakfasts beyond a six-week limit• Reforms to cut the cost of baby formula• A new legal duty on councils to notify schools, health visitors, and GPs when a child is placed in temporary accommodation Many of the measures have previously been announced. The government also pointed to its plan in the budget to cut energy bills by £150 a year, and its previously promised £950m boost to a local authority housing fund, which it says will deliver 5,000 high-quality homes for better temporary accommodation.

Downing Street said the strategy would lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030, saying that would be the biggest reduction in a single parliament since records began. But charities had been hoping for a 10-year strategy and argue the plan lacks ambition.

A record 4.5 million children (about 31%) are living in poverty in the UK - 900,000 more since 2010/11, according to government figures. Phillip Anderson, the Strategic Director for External Affairs at the National Children's Bureau (NCB), told Sky News: "Abolishing the two-child limit is a hell of a centre piece, but beyond that it's mainly a summary of previously announced policies and commitments.

"The really big thing for me is it misses the opportunity to talk about the longer term. It was supposed to be a 10-year strategy, we wanted to see real ambition and ideally legally binding targets for reducing poverty.

"The government itself says there will still be around four million children living in poverty after these measures and the strategy has very little to say to them." 'Budget for benefits street' row The biggest measure in the strategy is the plan to lift the two-child benefit cap from April. This is estimated to lift 450,000 children out of poverty by 2030, at a cost of £3bn.

The government has long been under pressure from backbench Labour MPs to scrap the cap, with most experts arguing that it is the quickest, most cost-effective way to drive-down poverty this parliament. The cap, introduced by Conservative chancellor George Osborne in 2017, means parents can only claim universal credit or tax credits for their first two children.

It meant the average affected household losing £4,300 per year, the Institute for Fiscal Studies calculated in 2024. The government argues that a failure to tackle child poverty holds back the economy, and young people at school, cutting their employment and earning prospects in later life.

However, the Conservatives argue parents on benefits should have to make the same financial choices about children as everyone else. Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said: "Work is the best way out poverty but since this government took office, unemployment has risen every single month and this budget for Benefits Street will only make the situation worse.

" 'Bring back Sure Start' Lord Bird, a crossbench peer who founded the Big Issue and grew up in poverty, said while he supported the lifting of the cap there needed to be "more joined up thinking" across government for a longer-term strategy. He has been pushing for the creation of a government ministry of "poverty prevention and cure.