Perilous future for coronavirus-generation, warns charity

Increasing numbers of children have been cut adrift and left ill equipped to cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic because of years of child poverty in Britain.

The End Child Poverty coalition is calling on the government to take seriously how the steady four-year rise in child poverty – predominantly in working families – has pushed families to breaking point, and to commit to an ambitious strategy to end child poverty in the aftermath of coronavirus. However, campaigners have expressed fear that the pandemic will only have deepened child poverty and drawn more families below the poverty line.

Loughborough University research has documented how child poverty rates in many different areas across Britain have swelled over the last four years, even before housing costs are taken into account. The North of England and West Midlands have seen dramatic rises in the proportion of children living below the poverty line, with numbers rising by 6.5 percentage points in the North East over the past four years alone, in areas that were already among the most deprived. Diverse parts of the country have seen similar rises.

The steady rise in child poverty has been felt particularly among working families, with London constituencies dominating the list of areas where growing numbers of poor children are from families in employment. Some parts of the capital have seen the proportion of children growing up in poverty from working families increase by 14 percentage points or more.

The added impact of coronavirus on household budgets could push struggling families over the edge and the coalition is urging the government to immediately increase the amount of money in families’ pockets, and set out an ambitious strategy to reverse the increases and make ending child poverty a priority for the nation’s future economic recovery.

Anna Feuchtwang, chair of End Child Poverty, said: “We may all be experiencing the storm of coronavirus together, but we are not all in the same boat. The government’s data shows the extent to which over the past four years, children in low income families have been cut adrift and are already experiencing unacceptable hardship through cuts and freezes to the benefits system.

“Our country’s children are now at severe risk of being swept deeper into poverty as a result of the pandemic and lockdown. This is why we are asking the government to strengthen the social security system which is there to hold us steady during tough times, by immediately increasing household income for those least well-off. Ending child poverty must be at the heart of the government’s plan for economic recovery, so that when this crisis is over all children can enjoy a life free from poverty in which they are healthy, can thrive at school and have opportunities for the future.”