THE UK Government has displayed a “blinkered” approach to children living in poverty during the pandemic, according to a leading charitable foundation, and should make “significant increases in child benefits, mirroring the approach in Scotland”.
A study today by Standard Life Foundation showed more than four million children are living in a family that has lost income since the start of the pandemic, and 1.6m are in a family that has lost more than a third of its earnings.
More than a quarter of families across the UK (27%) are living on a reduced income as a direct result of pandemic-related loss of earnings, compared with 17% of households without children.
The analysis showed shrinking incomes are hitting families hard with three million children (21%) now in a household that is struggling to buy food and other necessities; 4.9m (34%) in families with no savings; 4.5m (31%) in families that have to borrow for essentials; and more than 4m (29%) in a family in arrears with housing or other bills.
On almost all the indicators of financial hardship, the rate is doubled for families with children compared to those without children.
The research was conducted in January and analysed by the Personal Finance Research Centre at Bristol University. It is the fourth of the Standard Life Foundation’s coronavirus financial impact trackers, which has been tracking household finances since the start of the pandemic. The study said the economic impact has left families with dependent children three times as likely as other households to have claimed Universal Credit (UC) since March last year (9% vs 3%), and to still be claiming it in January this year (6% vs 2%). This means around 1.2m children live in families that have claimed UC because of the pandemic, with 800,000 of their parents still claiming it.
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Mubin Haq, inset, chief executive of Standard Life Foundation, said: “Families with children are twice as likely to be facing financial hardship compared to households without children and on a range of indicators are more severely affected. It will be distressing for many that one in five families are struggling to pay for food.
“Whilst much support has been provided by the UK Government there has been a blinkered approach to children.
“During the pandemic, families with children were three times more likely to claim Universal Credit, and are much more dependent on this lifeline. Yet the £20 a week increase has only been extended for six months.
“This must be made permanent. However, we also need to see significant increases in child benefits, mirroring the approach in Scotland, if we are to improve the life chances of our children.”
Lead author of the report, Professor Sharon Collard, chair in personal finance at Bristol University, said: “Just as we see an uneven distribution of financial distress in the general population, some families with children are also much harder hit than others.
“Families bearing the brunt include single parents; those on lower incomes; those in rented homes; and those with a parent whose daily activities are limited a lot by ill health or disability.
“Improving the financial resilience of such families should be a high priority as the UK moves out of the Covid-19 crisis, bringing knock-on benefits in the form of better outcomes for children.”
Action for Children’s director of policy and campaigns, Imran Hussain, said: “Today’s report is yet more evidence that those with children have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic and are now paying the price.
“Our frontline staff tell us children and parents are at rock bottom, many going without enough food, heating, warm clothes and other essentials. Serious action is urgently needed if we are to prevent a generation of children from being scarred by poverty and the pandemic.
“We know poverty can severely restrict life chances, so it is essential that the Government increases financial support for families with children as part of its core recovery planning.”
He added: “The Prime Minister can start by making the vital uplift in UC permanent, rather than just extending it for the next six months.”
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