CAP has responded to the Inquiry on the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy, which explores how the government plans to reduce child poverty and improve outcomes for low-income families.
Key points
- The cost of essentials and childcare can be a significant burden for families on low incomes.
- The social security system needs to be altered to ensure families are sufficiently supported. This includes specific targeted support, removing the five-week wait for Universal Credit, addressing debt deductions, and increasing or removing the benefit cap.
- Wages and social security need to cover the costs of essentials to enable people to support themselves and their families. Reforms to the social security system should also be explored.
- Clarity on targets and accountability is needed.
- More strategically and proactively linking with other government strategies and schemes, such as the Financial Inclusion Strategy, Universal Credit Review, Timms Review, and the next steps following the Public Services Committee’s report: Reforming the Child Maintenance Service, Pride in Place Strategy, and the Get Britain Working White Paper would be beneficial.
- An independent review and recommendations on the next step should be published to ensure progress continues.
- CAP would recommend this goes alongside implementation of the socio-economic duty across the UK and the consideration of setting legal targets on poverty reduction.
