CYP Now - Overhauling benefits ‘would lift 320,000 children out of poverty’

Reform of the benefits system for families, including increasing universal credit and ending the benefits cap, would help lift an estimated 320,000 children out of poverty and remove barriers to work for their parents, according to research carried out by Action for Children.

As many as 440,000 children are living in poverty, Action for Children warns. Picture: LuxorPhoto/Adobe Stock

The move would help unemployed parents find work and increase income for working parents impacted by low wages.

The child element of universal credit should be increased by at least £15-a-week and the cap on the amount of benefits families can receive should be abolished, said the charity. It said the cap “is a big driver of deeper poverty”.

While the benefits hike and cap removal would cost the government an estimated £4bn a year it would boost the incomes of those living in poverty so “their experience of it is less severe”, it added.

Action for Children says that the current system traps parents in poverty, by being unable to increase their income or lift themselves out of hardship.

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