Britain's five biggest children's charities said this weekend that the next government should pass new legislation within 100 days of winning the general election requiring ministers to commit to ending child poverty for good.
The groups are calling for the King's first speech to include legislation including plans for a “child lock” – the equivalent of the current “triple lock” on pensions.
This will ensure that the financial assistance parents receive from the state increases each year, rather than rising or falling depending on political decisions or economic conditions.
As parties prepare to publish their election manifestos, calls to action from the NSPCC, Action for Children, Barnardo, the National Children's Agency and the Children's Society will put particular pressure on Keir Starmer and Labour to tackle child poverty.
Another key demand from the charity coalition is the abolition of the controversial two-child limit on benefits, which they blame for pushing hundreds of thousands of children into poverty.
Starmer said on Friday that Labour would like to end the policy “in an ideal world” but that “we don't have the space for that at the moment”.
Last weekend, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: Observer The two-child limit is cruel and immoral and should be abolished immediately.
Charities claim that “child lock” would ensure that child-related benefits would increase each year in line with the rise in average earnings or the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index, whichever is higher.
The current triple pension lock-in means that your state pension increases each year at the rate of inflation, average earnings or 2.5% – whichever is higher.
Recent figures show that 4.3 million children in the UK are now living in poverty, up 100,000 from the previous year – meaning that in an average class of 30 children, nine live in poverty.
The charity will launch a “Children at the Table” campaign to advocate for better mental health support for young people, more investment in child welfare and a focus on early years support.
“Child poverty in the UK means millions of children and young people suffer from hunger, poor housing and also have to deal with psychological factors such as shame, social isolation and parental stress,” the chief executives of the five charities said in a joint statement.
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“Without the support and assistance of political leaders, the structures that hold families together will continue to disintegrate, leaving more children at risk and vulnerable.”
“Whoever forms the next UK Government must wake up to this shocking reality and make tackling child poverty a national priority.”
“A strong signal would be to commit in your first King's Speech to bringing in new legislation setting out a set of ambitious targets to reduce and ultimately eradicate child poverty in our communities. This should be coupled with wider reforms, whoever becomes Prime Minister, leading to the implementation of an ambitious multi-year strategy and results framework involving all relevant Government departments, designed to transform the lives and futures of babies, children and young people.”
The coalition also wants the government to work towards implementing an “essential guarantee” to ensure people are given several months' worth of benefits through the benefits system to ensure they can pay for the most basic necessities such as food, heating and clothing.
