Thousands of children living in poverty are being denied their potential, says minister

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said too many kids are having their potential denied "because they haven't got food in their belly or a warm roof over their heads". Speaking at a packed event on child poverty today at the Labour Conference being held in Liverpool's Arena and Convention Centre, Ms Kendall said: "Let me tell you loud and clear: this is a priority for this new Labour government and it is a personal priority for me."

She continued: "I've seen too many families struggling in my own constituency and too many children whose potential is being denied because they haven't got food in their belly or a warm roof over their heads. Our country can never succeed when the talents of so many are being denied."

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In some parts of Merseyside, more than two in three children are living in poverty. Harrowing statistics published earlier this year by the ECHO show that across our region, nearly 66,500 0-15 year olds were living below the breadline in 2022/23, even before housing costs.

The number of children living in poverty in Merseyside has generally been rising year-on-year, and is up from around 40,400 in 2014/15. According to UNICEF, between 2014 and 2021, the UK experienced the biggest increase in child poverty of any advanced economy.

Alison Garnham, head of Child Poverty Action Group said: "It's an absolute scandal that children in the UK are among the most miserable in the world. UK kids had the lowest average overall life satisfaction out of 27 European countries. Children in the UK are living with the consequences of rapidly rising child poverty over the last 14 years.

She added: "We've seen over 50 cuts to social security benefits since 2010. It's extraordinary and unprecedented. £50 billion has been taken out of the social security budget. Not surprisingly, there are 700,000 more children in poverty now.

"They're struggling, often hungry, unable to concentrate, missing out on what their friends expect to learn. They're more likely to be be bullied, and more likely to be absent from school."

The two child benefit cap restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households and was introduced by the Conservative government in 2017 According to Save the Children, scrapping the cap would take half a million children out of poverty.

It would cost the government between £2.5 billion and £3.6 billion in 2024/5. Labour have promised to scrap the cap, but only when fiscal conditions allow it.

During the Labour Party Conference event, Liz Kendall was asked if by 2029 there will be fewer children growing up in poverty in the UK. She responded: "Yes, that's what we intend to do, and we won't fail."

But child poverty experts argued the only way to take children out of poverty is thorough spending more money. Sam Freedman from the Institute for Government said: "We can over-complicate this policy area. We can write 200 page reports that no one reads, but it is ultimately about money.

"We do need to give people money - that is the best route out of poverty. We know this because we can compare what's happened with children with what happened with pensioners.

"Pensioner poverty has halved over the past 30 years because we have increased pensions. It is not very complicated. Child poverty is more or less where it was 20 years ago because we have not provided the necessary resources."

The government have set up a child poverty taskforce, underpinned by a new child poverty unit. The taskforce's child poverty strategy will be out in the spring of 2025.