The UK government has published a long-awaited strategy aimed at tackling child poverty, promising to lift an estimated 550,000 children out of poverty by the end of this parliament. The plan, unveiled on Friday 5 December 2025, centres on the abolition of the controversial two-child benefit cap, a move announced in Chancellor Rachel Reeves's budget the previous week.
Core Measures and Criticisms
The headline policy is the removal of the two-child limit on benefits, a rule introduced by Conservative Chancellor George Osborne in 2017. This cap has meant parents could only claim Universal Credit or tax credits for their first two children, costing affected households an average of £4,300 per year, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Its removal from April is projected to lift 450,000 children out of poverty by 2030 at a cost of £3 billion.
Other key measures in the strategy include providing upfront childcare support for parents on Universal Credit who are returning to work, an £8 million fund to stop placing families in bed and breakfast accommodation for more than six weeks, reforms to reduce the cost of baby formula, and a new legal duty for councils to inform schools and health services when a child is placed in temporary housing.
However, the strategy has faced immediate criticism for lacking ambition. Charities and experts had hoped for a comprehensive 10-year plan with legally binding targets. Phillip Anderson, Strategic Director for External Affairs at the National Children's Bureau, told Sky News the plan was largely a "summary of previously announced policies" and missed a crucial opportunity to address the longer term. He noted the government's own projections would still leave around four million children in poverty in the UK.
Political Reactions and Calls for More
The political response has been divided. The Conservative opposition, represented by Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride, argued that "work is the best way out of poverty" and criticised the budget as one for "Benefits Street".
Meanwhile, crossbench peer and founder of the Big Issue, Lord Bird, welcomed the scrapping of the cap but called for more "joined up thinking". He advocated for a dedicated government ministry for poverty prevention and the resurrection of the Sure Start centre model, a New Labour programme widely credited with improving child outcomes before its scaling back.
Other charities have urged the government to go further. Organisations like Crisis and Shelter called for the housing benefit freeze to end and for more social rent homes to be built. The Children's Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, suggested measures like free bus travel for school-age children would be necessary to truly end child poverty.
The Scale of the Challenge
The strategy arrives against a stark backdrop. Official figures show a record 4.5 million children – approximately 31% – are living in poverty across the UK, which is 900,000 more than in 2010/11. The government asserts that failing to tackle this issue holds back both the economy and young people's life chances.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who met families in Wales to promote the strategy, stated: "Too many children are growing up in poverty, held back from getting on in life... I will not stand by and watch that happen, because the cost of doing nothing is too high for children, for families and for Britain."
The plan follows the work of a child poverty taskforce established in July 2024, though its full findings have not yet been published. While the government heralds its strategy as marking the biggest reduction in child poverty in a single parliament on record, the debate over its sufficiency and long-term vision is set to continue.
