UK child poverty numbers reach a record high

The number of children in poverty in the UK has reached its highest level since comparative records began in 2002.

In the year to April 2024, there were 4.45 million children living in a household of relative low income after housing costs are deducted - the government's own standard measure for poverty.

The figure, released by the Department for Work and Pensions, is an increase of 100,000 children from the previous year - and equates to 31% of children in the UK.

The figure has risen sharply since 2021 and the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) predicts 4.8 million children will be in poverty by the end of this Parliament in 2029-30.

It is calling for the government to scrap the two-child benefit limit in its upcoming child poverty strategy, and to pause the recent proposals for wider benefit cuts.

The two-child cap prevents parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for a third child, with a few exemptions.

The relative poverty definition - which is measured both before and after housing costs - refers to people living in households with income below 60% of the country's median average figure.

Separately, the Scottish government has missed its legal targets for reducing child poverty for 2023-24.

"The latest data is a stark reminder of the scale of deprivation among families, with close to a third of children in Britain now living in poverty," said Adam Corlett, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation think tank.

"This is before any additional impact from new benefit cuts and a weak living standards outlook, which are set to reduce incomes across the poorest half of working-age households by £500 over the next five years."

Speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday, work and pensions minister Sir Stephen Timms said the figures "show just what a huge challenge" the "very high level of child poverty that's left by the previous government" is for Labour.

He added: "We're going to be addressing that".

Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed a shake-up to the benefits system on Wednesday. This includes halving incapacity benefits for new claimants, and tighter criteria around the Personal Independence Payment for those with long term physical or mental health conditions.

An extra 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, will be pushed into relative poverty by these changes, according to the government's own impact assessment.

In the three years to 2024, the highest child poverty rates after housing costs were in the West Midlands and London, although London's levels were among the lowest if housing was not factored in.

One in five families who had one child were living in poverty, compared with 44% of those who had three children or more.

The Resolution Foundation echoed calls for the government to scrap the two-child benefit limit and wants the government to extend free school meal entitlement to all families on Universal Credit.

When Labour took power in the summer of 2024, after the period covered by the figures, the prime minister announced the creation of a child poverty task force, promising to leave "no stone unturned" in tackling the root causes of the issue.

The cross-government child poverty strategy is due to be published in spring 2025.

"No-one should be living in poverty, and we know that the best route out of poverty for struggling families is well paid, secure work, a Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said.

"That is why we are reforming our broken welfare system so it helps people into good jobs, boosting living standards and putting money in people's pockets," they added.