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UK faces child poverty crisis
Currently, nearly all state primary school children in London, Scotland, and Wales are offered free school meals. However, in the rest of England, only children up to the age of seven receive this benefit, and it is not universally available in Northern Ireland, itv.com reported.
Will Baker from Bristol University found that schools are now the largest source of charitable food and household aid for families. “About 20% of all primary and secondary schools now run a food bank. That equates to over 4,000 school-based food banks, disproportionately located in disadvantaged areas and schools with low-income populations,” Baker stated.
Charities argue that the two-child cap, which limits Universal or Child Tax Credit to the first two children in a family, is a significant policy driver of child poverty, affecting nearly two million children. The government is expected to save £2.5 billion from this benefit cap this financial year. However, a recent study found that the ‘two-child limit’ did not incentivize parents to have fewer children.