Labour vows to ‘give every child a good start in life’ with child poverty strategy - but critics warn it’s not enough
Campaigners call for Starmer to do more to tackle child poverty
- The government has launched a child poverty strategy, promising more accessible childcare and an end to families being housed in bed and breakfasts beyond the legal six-week limit.
- With 4.45 million children currently living in poverty, Sir Keir Starmer called tackling the issue a “moral mission”, though campaigners expressed concern over the strategy's lack of ambitious targets.
- Key measures include scrapping the two-child benefits limit from April next year and expanding free school meals, projected to lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030.
- The strategy aims to prevent newborns from being discharged into unsuitable temporary accommodation, following reports of 74 child deaths linked to such housing in recent years.
- Homelessness Minister Alison McGovern stated she would consider herself a “failure” if babies are still discharged into bed and breakfasts by the end of her tenure, while charities urged for unfreezing housing benefit and building more social homes.