School Food Review statement on the expansion of free school mealsIssued September 2026Today many thousands more children across England will be fuelled for learning thanksto a free school meal. As organisations working in schools and with children, we knowthis is a huge boost for children and families.For too long, school food has been a source…
Tag: child poverty
Free school meals expansion – half of newly eligible parents don’t know they can get the meals
As the PM’s cost of living tour gets underway, a new survey from Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) finds more than half of parents (55%) whose children will be newly eligible for free school meals (FSM) from September don’t know that they will qualify for the meals. The government expanded eligibility for FSM to all…
IFS: April’s universal credit changes mean giveaways now, takeaways later
Three reforms to universal credit, the UK’s main working-age means-tested benefit received by 6.6 million families, take effect on 6 April 2026. Together, they will change the incomes of almost all who receive the benefit … First, the real value of the UC standard allowance will be increased by 2.3% more than inflation … Second,…
Government must increase trust in Universal Credit as full roll out brings 15 million people into the system
https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/press-releases/government-must-increase-trust-in-universal-credit-as-full-roll-out-brings-15-million-people-into-the-system/ By April, Universal Credit (UC) is finally due to be fully rolled out, thirteen years after its introduction in 2013. With half of all children in the UK (6.5 million) living in families receiving UC, the Government must use this milestone to build trust and improve the system for claimants, according to new proposals…
rightsnet updates on today’s budget include:
Budget 2025: Two-child limit within universal credit to be removed from April 2026 Budget 2025: Extension of targeted case reviews in universal credit expected to achieve further £1.3 billion in savings in 2030/2031 Budget 2025: Government confirms that ‘relevant threshold’ for purposes of calculating surplus earnings under universal credit to stay at £2,500 for an…
Budget 2025 fact sheet: Cutting the Cost of Living
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/budget-2025-fact-sheet-cutting-the-cost-of-living This Budget takes levies off energy bills to save families £150 on average next year, and up to £300 for some poorer households. The historic decision to remove the two-child limit in full from April 2026 will lift 450,000 children out of poverty -rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures announced this year, such…
Universal Credit claimants statistics on the two child limit policy, April 2025
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-claimants-statistics-on-the-two-child-limit-policy-april-2025/universal-credit-claimants-statistics-on-the-two-child-limit-policy-april-2025 The statistics show: in April 2025, 469,780 Universal Credit households were affected by the two child limit policy: that is, they had a third or subsequent child born on or after 6 April 2017. This was an increase of 13,520 (3%) from the total number of households affected on either Universal Credit or Child…
Government revives family services, supporting 500,000 more kids
South East Hangleton Family Hub BN38BW Brighton and Hove Family Hubs Programme South East Hollingdean Family Hub BN17DY Brighton and Hove Family Hubs Programme South East Moulsecoomb Family Hub BN24SE Brighton and Hove Family Hubs Programme South East North Portslade Family Hub BN412PY Brighton and Hove Family Hubs Programme South East Tarner Family Hub BN29QE…
Turning the tide
What it will take to reduce child poverty in the UK
https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/turning-the-tide/ On the Government’s headline measure of relative poverty after housing costs, 4.3 million children (three-in-ten) were living in relative poverty across the UK in 2022-23. On an international measure accounting for both housing and energy costs, the UK’s relative child poverty rate is higher than in any EU or EFTA nation bar Greece. On…
The Cost of a Child in 2024
https://cpag.org.uk/news/cost-child-2024 The cost of raising a child to age 18 is £260,000 for a couple and £290,000 for a lone parent.