A grand coalition for our children

Cherie Blair CBE KC, said:

“I am pleased to be a launch supporter of the Children's Prosperity Plan and their mission, which I think is ambitious yet imperative: to lift 1 million children in our country out of relative poverty by 2030. This goal is not just a number; it represents a million lives changed, a million futures brightened, and a million dreams revived. Achieving this requires more than just policy changes; it demands a united effort from every corner of society. From government bodies to private sector champions, from local communities to international partners, we must all come together in a grand coalition for our children. Mobilising this collective strength, we will ensure that the future of every child is defined not by the circumstances of their birth but by the boundlessness of their potential.”

Anne Longfield, Executive Chair, Centre for Young Lives, said:

“We should be ashamed at the levels of child poverty in Britain, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and at the lack of action to reduce it. Poverty can have a devastating impact on a child’s educational attainment, wellbeing and mental health, and their life chances. We cannot hope to achieve a strong economy and strong communities for as long as millions of our children are growing up in poverty. The current social security system is penalising some of the poorest families. These sensible proposals would lift many children out of poverty and reverse the recent rise in child poverty. Previous governments have cut child poverty – it can be done, and it should be a top priority for any government.”

Alison Garnham, CEO, Child Poverty Action Group UK, said:

“Child poverty has been allowed to rise to a record high with over four million kids currently cut off from opportunities to thrive. Children need politicians to show leadership and to act. The urgent priorities are abolition of the hideous two-child limit, an expansion of free school meals and an increase to child benefit. To do less is to fail Britain’s children.”

Becca Lyon, Head of Child Poverty, Save the Children UK, said:

"The two-child limit to benefits is an arbitrary rule that has done nothing but penalise children and leave families in unacceptable levels of poverty. We know first-hand that when one child in a family misses out on this money, all children suffer, with less for essentials, food, and experiences. Any future government serious about taking one million children out of poverty, as the Children's Prosperity Plan outlines, must abandon this cruel austerity-era policy."

Laurence Guinness, CEO, The Childhood Trust, said:

“Every week I meet exceptionally bright, talented and ambitious children who dream of a better future despite suffering with homelessness, hunger, social exclusion and the worry caused by living in poverty. It is shameful that politicians have made deliberate choices that keep millions of children trapped in poverty in one of the world’s wealthiest countries. I am honoured to be supporting the Blueprint for Change campaign and to add my voice to this urgent call to political leaders to make the right policy choices that can stop the misery of poverty for so many children in the UK. By putting our voices together, we can ensure that a generation of children don’t just dream of a better future but can actually live one.”

Joseph Howes, CEO, Buttle UK, said:

“As someone that benefited from Free School Meals in a challenging time, I know how much this support helped me, and my parents. In my job today, I hear too many stories of children that are going hungry, as well as young people explaining how important it is that free school meals are available to all students, so that every child has a free, healthy hot meal. We need to end hunger in our classrooms and ensure that every child is fed and ready to learn. I am so pleased that the CPP is assembling this coalition to call for change.”

Professor Cathy Creswell, Developmental Clinical Psychology, University of Oxford, said:

“There is clear and consistent evidence that poverty is associated with negative mental health outcomes for children and young people, in addition to a myriad of other adverse impacts. This brings huge costs to individuals, families, and to society as a whole. It is critical that any future government makes tackling child poverty a priority, with Blueprint for Change at the centre.”

Professor David Gordon, Director of the Bristol Poverty Institute, Director of the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research, University of Bristol, said:

“All politicians in the UK claim that they want to reduce child poverty.  Yet child poverty is still increasing. The economics of child poverty are very simple and are entirely concerned with redistribution – where sufficient resources are redistributed from adults to children there is no child poverty; where insufficient resources are redistributed from adults to children child poverty is inevitable.  This is not difficult to understand. We know what needs to be done to reduce poverty and this was achieved between 2000 and 2010.  Reducing child poverty in the UK is affordable, what is lacking is the political will to fund the kinds of policies that we know will work.”

Dr Juliet Stone, Research Fellow at Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough University, said:

“As families continue to face challenging economic circumstances across the UK, there is an urgent need for action to give children the opportunity to thrive without the burden of financial hardship. Removing punitive polices such as the two-child limit is key to ensuring that children and their families have enough to live with dignity, and is a crucial first step towards ending child poverty in the UK.”

Professor Kate Pickett OBE, Director of the Public Health & Society Research Group and the York Cost of Living Research Group at the University of York, and Academic Co-Director of Health Equity North, said: 

“For far too long, short-sighted policies such as the two-child limit and the benefit cap have been holding families back and trapping them in a cycle of poverty. This has a profound impact on a child’s future, affecting their physical and mental health, educational attainment, and economic participation. To stop this pattern continuing through generations, evidence-based policies need to be implemented urgently, focusing on lifting the poorest out of poverty. Every child should have the opportunity to grow up in safe, warm homes with access to good food, education and support within their communities. The Child Prosperity Plan’s campaign sets out clear policy missions for Government which, if actioned, would break the harmful cycle of poverty for a million children across the country, offering them, and generations to follow, a fairer future.”

Hannah Davies, Executive Director of Health Equity North, said:

“Opportunities for children and young people are stifled due to poverty, resulting in social exclusion - and this not only affects those children personally, but our society as a whole. At Health Equity North, our vision is to end health inequity through research, policy impact, and public health improvement - which is why we support the Child Prosperity Plan’s blueprint to reform the benefit system to become fairer, and work towards lifting families out of relative poverty. We believe that, in the long run, implementing these changes will pay for itself with the inevitable increase in productivity and improvement in health outcomes.”

Dr Nicholas Kofi Adjei, Research Associate in Public Health, Policy & Systems, University of Liverpool, said:

“As a researcher focusing on child poverty and health, my findings strongly indicate that addressing child poverty could yield significant health benefits for the entire UK population over the life course. By implementing these action plans, we have the potential to mitigate a wide range of health disparities and improve overall well-being. From reducing the prevalence of chronic diseases to enhancing mental health outcomes, the ripple effects of such actions can positively shape the trajectory of individuals' lives and contribute to a healthier, more equitable society. It's imperative that policymakers recognise the profound impact of child poverty on health and social outcomes and prioritise strategies that promote economic security and social support for vulnerable families.”

Professor David Taylor-Robinson, W.H. Duncan Chair in Health Inequalities, Professor of Public Health and Policy, Honorary Consultant in Child Public Health, The University of Liverpool and Academic Co-director of Health Equity North, said:

“Children growing up in the UK get a bad deal. Due to poverty and lack of investment, their outcomes are some of the worst in rich countries –  from risk of death in childhood, to obesity, mental health, and education, and the pandemic and cost of living crisis have  made the situation worse. Furthermore, the stark geographical inequalities in child health in the UK are preventable and unfair. Addressing these issues must begin with better policies for children, with a key focus on reducing our unacceptably high levels of child poverty.”

Dr Camilla Kingdon, Former President of The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and Advisor to the Centre for Young Lives, said:

“As a paediatrician, I am deeply concerned by the deterioration in children’s health and wellbeing in the UK, largely driven by poverty.  We know that poverty is the major driver of children’s poor mental health, unhealthy weight, poor oral health and unequal exposure to air pollution.  If we do not come up with a brave and ambitious plan to tackle the drivers of poor health, we are stacking up massive problems for the future health and productivity of the whole population.  Despite being one of the richest nations on the planet, we have an unbearable burden of child poverty and the time has come to take action to address this.  Tackling child poverty should be one of the primary goals of whichever party wins the next general election.”

Shona Goudie, Policy and Advocacy Manager, The Food Foundation, said:

“Shockingly there are now one in five households with children in the UK living with food insecurity. This severe manifestation of poverty means children are exposed to hunger and food which is of poor nutritional quality. Every family - whether in work, reliant on social security, or a combination of both - should have sufficient income to afford the food they need to feed their children. In addition, it is imperative that all children can receive free, hot, nutritious meals at school enabling them to enjoy lunch with their peers, be fuelled to thrive throughout the school day, and setting them up for a bright and prosperous future. In this election year, it is critical all political parties commit to meaningfully tackle children’s food poverty by strengthening the social security system and expanding Free School Meals to more children.”

 Get to know us

  • We are working to mobilise private, public, and civil society in the national goal to lift 1 million children aged 0-15 out of relative poverty by 2030.

  • Read our plan here.

  • Isaac Oliver and Nabhan Malik.

  • Poverty can mean children going without basic necessities – going to school or bed hungry, wearing shoes that are too small or let the rain in, or sleeping on a mattress on the floor because there is no money for a bedframe.

    It means missing out on everyday fun, play and relaxed time with family because family outings are too expensive, and being excluded from social activities with friends because there isn’t money for a cinema ticket or birthday present.

    Poverty denies children chances to try new things and develop their interests and talents through extra-curricular clubs and even school trips and activities. For many children, poverty also means growing up too soon – having to deal with adult worries and anxieties when they are still children.

    This not only inflicts hardship on children in their formative years, but also has a long-term impact on their future health, wellbeing and economic prospects.

  • In 2023/24, 4.3m children are living in relative poverty after housing costs (30% of all children in the UK), which is 100,000 more than last year.

    Relative child poverty definition: Defined as living on less than £360 a week for a single parent with two children after housing costs.

    Absolute child poverty definition: Defined as living on less than £324 a week for a single parent with two children after housing costs.

  • Universal Credit awards can include additional amounts for children or “qualifying young people” in full-time, non-advanced education up to the age of 19 in a claimant’s household. These amounts are designed to help with the costs of bringing up children, and to reduce child poverty.

    In the Budget after the 2015 General Election the Government imposed a “two-child limit” on additional amounts to make savings in the welfare system, and to ensure households on means-tested benefits would “face the same financial choices about having children as those supporting themselves solely through work.”

  • The benefit cap, introduced in 2013, restricts the total amount of support a working-age household can receive from the social security system for households with no work and households with earnings of less than the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the minimum wage. There are some exemptions and people with recent earnings are not immediately capped.

    For households with children the cap is set at £486.98 per week in London and £423.46 outside the capital. People with recent earnings are not immediately capped and those receiving certain disability and carer’s benefits are exempt.

  • Debts, including money owed to utility companies, council tax, rent and court fines are automatically deducted from people's benefit payments. These deductions make it even more difficult for families to make ends meet.

  • The Resolution Foundation calculates that abolishing both the two-child limit and benefit cap in 2024-25 would cost up to £3bn.