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News from CPAG

THE COST OF A CHILD IN 2019
Every year we publish research on what it costs to raise a child from birth to
age 18. Today, our new report finds that lone parents are facing a growing gap between their income and their costs. Lone parents
working full time for the minimum wage (what the government calls the ‘national
living wage’) are 21 per cent (£80 a week) short of what they need for their
family to reach a decent minimum living standard – as defined by the public.
This gap has more than doubled since 2012.

Read more
[[link removed]]GOVERNMENT SPENDING REVIEW
We know that tackling poverty is key to ensuring children can grow up in happy,
healthy homes and go on to thrive throughout their lives. Today, as the
Chancellor set out his plans for investing in public services, it was dismaying
that there was no mention of restoring social security to support families to
thrive. As a starting point, re-investing in children’s benefits would lift 700,000
children out of poverty by the time universal credit is fully rolled out in
2023. We will be keeping up pressure on the government to:

* Restore the child element in universal credit to its 2015/16 value, and
reintroduce the higher amount for first children.
* Lift the two-child limit, which we know is doing great harm
[[link removed]] .
* Remove the benefit cap, which affects many lone parents of young children who
are least able to escape the cap through work.
* Increase child benefit by £5 per child per week.

Social security is a pillar of our welfare state and is very effective at
addressing rising living costs for those most affected by them: low-income
families.

BRINGING A MOTION AT THE YOUTH PARLIAMENT
Ben Lomas, Member of Youth Parliament for St Helens, shared his experience of
bringing a motion on child poverty to the Annual Conference of the Youth
Parliament. Ben's motion has also now made it on to the Make Your Mark Ballot,
which is the largest youth consultation in Europe.

Read Ben's blog
[[link removed]]UNIVERSAL CREDIT AND CHILDCARE
We've published a new report on childcare in universal credit, based on evidence
from our Early Warning System in Scotland. Less than 60% of universal credit
claimants with a childcare element are paid on time and accurately.

F ind out more
[[link removed]]REMEMBER A CHARITY WEEK
Next week, CPAG will be participating in Remember A Charity Week. We will be
sharing how gifts left in the wills of our members and supporters have a huge
impact in helping us fight for an end to child poverty. You can find out more at www.cpag.org.uk/giftinwill
[[link removed]] or by contacting Alice on [email protected] [[link removed]] or 020 7812 5222.

LIVING HAND TO MOUTH NOW FREE TO READ
You can now read Living Hand to Mouth for free by downloading the full book from our website
[[link removed]] . Written by Rebecca O’Connell, Abigail Knight and Julia Brannen from the
Thomas Coram Research Unit, UCL Institute of Education, this important book
shines a spotlight on what children say about how they manage their everyday
lives around food. It provides vital evidence about children’s lived experiences
of poverty, and identifies the causes of their insufficient resources including
low and fluctuating wages, inadequate benefits and high living costs.

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Child Poverty Action Group is a charity registered in England and Wales
(registration number 294841) and in Scotland (registration number SC039339).
Company limited by guarantee registered in England (registration number
1993854). Registered office: 30 Micawber Street, London, N1 7TB. VAT no. 690
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