Child poverty is an inexcusable reality in the UK. The last Labour Government reduced child poverty by 600,000 children. Yet since 2010 it has risen by 900,000 and now around 4.5 million children are in poverty.
In my Manchester Rusholme, 51% of children live in poverty – that is over 10,000 children. It is a national disgrace, and I am proud the Labour Government has placed tackling child poverty firmly on the national agenda.
No child should grow up without the security, opportunity and dignity they deserve and the new Child Poverty Strategy is an important step towards creating lasting change.
So far, this Government has reversed the two-child limit, which alone is expected to lift around 450,000 children out of poverty by the end of this Parliament. This is a policy I have long championed, since I first became an MP, because I have seen firsthand the pressure the cap places on working families.
Expanding free breakfast clubs is another key intervention by this Government that will support parents while ensuring children begin the school day ready to learn. From April 2026, 2,000 additional schools will join the early adopter scheme, giving half a million more children a healthy start to the day. This will benefit over 50,000 pupils in Manchester City Council.
I also welcome the expansion of free school meals. By widening eligibility, an estimated 100,000 children will be lifted out of poverty nationwide. I’m pleased that in Manchester Rusholme, up to 7,000 more children are expected to qualify, helping ensure no child will be trying to learn on an empty stomach.
Alongside this, local authorities are also preparing to deliver the new £1 billion Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) – the most significant investment in local crisis support in a generation, giving families a genuine safety net to help families with the cost of living.
This is just the beginning.
Immediately following the election, the Prime Minister established the Child Poverty Taskforce, supported by the Child Poverty Unit in the Cabinet Office, to deliver a lasting reduction in child poverty through an ambitious 10-year strategy. The Taskforce has worked across government and with external organisations to hear directly from children, families and communities to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.
Last month, the Government announced the new Child Poverty Strategy, setting out the steps we are taking to reduce child poverty in the short term while putting in place the building blocks we need to create long-term change. The strategy brings together the action the government has already taken, alongside new measures, to increase incomes, reduce essential costs and strengthen local services. This strategy aims to lift 550,000 out of poverty, and increase household incomes for over 7 million children. As part of this strategy, the Government is:
- Increasing the national minimum wage.
- Strengthening rights through the Employment Rights Act to tackle job insecurity.
- Increasing the basic rate of Universal Credit above the rate of inflation.
- Reforming the Child Maintenance Service.
- Expanding government-funded childcare for babies over 9 months old, with many families being eligible for 30 free hours a week.
- Providing better support at job centres.
- Investing £39 billion into a 10-year social homes programme.
- Spending £600 million on a school holiday food and activity programmes.
- Limiting schools to only requiring students to have three branded items of uniform.
- Extending the Warm Homes Discount to a further 2.7 million people.
- Creating Best Start family hubs in every local authority.
- Raising the early years pupil premium to £570.
- Expanding the schools-based nursery programme.
- Committing £2.4 billion to reform children’s social care.
This is the difference a Labour government makes. While the Tories were ideologically committed to slashing public services, it is this Government that is steadfast in its mission to improve the lives of working people.
I am proud of the progress we have made in less than two years, and I will be monitoring this work closely over the course of the Parliament to ensure the most vulnerable in our society get all the help they need.