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. 

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.
• 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.

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. 

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 or by contacting Alice on [email protected] 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. 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.