While party leaders talk about boosting the economy, Barnardo’s reports that 440,000 children sleep on the floor because families can’t afford beds for them (More than 1 million children in UK sleep on floor or share bed, study finds, 29 September). This seems the right moment to remind our leaders that one of the most effective ways of boosting the economy is by ending child poverty.
Driving down poverty eases pressure on local resources, people are healthier, they gain more from learning, there’s less strain on mental health services, more jobs are taken up and crime drops. This isn’t some overoptimistic artist’s impression: studies confirm the economic benefits.
Yet, sadly, talk is of cutting welfare spending, and it seems the two-child benefit cap, long considered one of the biggest drivers of child poverty, won’t be lifted any time soon. Why? The money required is a small fraction of the government’s overall budget. Forgive the mischievous comparison, but lifting the two-child cap costs less than the Home Office contract with the Australian company providing asylum barges.
As patron of the Child Poverty Action Group, I’m asking that parties commit to tackling child poverty, looking again at lifting the two-child cap, and strengthening other focused means of support, such as provision of school meals. Too many children are going to school hungry; if we’re all about making “tough choices”, why not start with families who have to make tough choices every day?
Armando Iannucci
Patron, Child Poverty Action Group
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