The charity acknowledges that “a strong economy can increase wages and employment”. But it warns ministers that this “will not in itself reduce poverty”.
Currently there are 4.3m children living in poverty in the UK, it found. Three in ten children in England and Wales live in poverty, compared to less than one in four in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
“Even if the UK economy grows significantly more than expected, overall child poverty rates show little change and could even rise if growth benefits higher income households more than lower income ones,” the report warns the government.
Instead “specific, targeted polices are needed if child poverty rates are to come down”, including abolishing the two-child limit and introduce a protected minimum amount of support to Universal Credit.
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