Alekia Gill explores the Potential Effects of Labour’s Policies on UK Child Poverty.
Photo by: Claudia Ray
With the appointment of Labour’s first Prime Minister in fourteen years, Keir Starmer’s government has the chance to confront the rising poverty crisis and growing demand for food banks in the UK. What are their promises, and are they set to make the change that they so ardently strive for?
The past few years have seen a vast increase in demand at food banks. This is due to several reasons: COVID, the cost-of-living crisis, and the lack of support the previous government has shown towards these issues. The Trussell Trust, who deal with a nationwide network of food banks in the UK, recorded 3.1 million emergency food parcels were handed out in 2023-2024 alone, the highest it has ever been. They state that as food prices are now 24% higher than two years ago, the need is increasingly growing yet donations are low.
The Labour manifesto, released in the run-up to the 2024 General Election, states that the party is committed to reducing food prices ‘by removing barriers to businesses trading’.
They describe the UK’s reliance on emergency food parcels, like the ones provided by the Trussell Trust, as ‘a moral scar on our society’. For many, confronting poverty must begin with scrapping the two-child benefit cap brought in by the Conservatives in 2017. The cap meaning that parents can only claim universal credit or child tax credit for two of their children.
Labour has been placed under increasing pressure to change the policy due to its negative critical impact on children living in poverty. One mother, speaking to BBC Radio 4 for Women’s Hour, stated that she felt as though she'd ‘failed’ because of the cap. Even with herself and her husband working full-time, she noted that they often cannot afford even something as simple as 'putting breakfast on the table’. And she’s not alone. According to the Trussell Trust, the number of parcels provided for families with more than three children has more than doubled since 2018.
The Scottish Labour Party continues to put pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to scrap the limit, though Starmer has held firm to his view until the economy sees significant growth, the limit should remain.
Speaking to Edinburgh City Mission, a Scotland-based network of food and clothes banks as well as community building and outreach programmes, it is clear that demand is much higher now than in previous years. Miles Libke, a Team Leader, states ‘I’ve been working with ECM for almost six years, and our services have completely ballooned’. According to their 2023 Impact Report, they experienced a 40% increase in visitors from 2022, with much of the help going to ‘families who are living on the breadline and are unable to cope with the cost-of-living crisis’.
One glimmer of hope stands in Labour’s promise to introduce free breakfast clubs in primary schools, taking one meal off the hands of struggling parents, though some are still concerned about how a lack of hot meals might negatively affect children in development.
Banning junk food adverts to children does not change the fact that the cheapest and easiest meals in the UK are from fast food establishments—Labours' promise to ‘raise the healthiest generation of children in our history’ will first have to ensure that children are fed healthily.
Abigail McCall, Project Officer at Nourish Scotland, states that the government could start with an ‘essentials guarantee’, which would mean stretching Universal Credit to cover energy and transport as well as food.
"I’ve been working with ECM for almost six years, and our services have completely ballooned" says Miles Libke, Edinburgh City Mission Team Leader
In summary
While Labour is ‘committed to reviewing Universal Credit so that it tackles poverty’, they have not stated how this review will impact Universal Credit legislation as it stands,
and they will have to provide secure alternatives to ensure the end of child poverty in the UK.
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Researcher: Alekia Gill | Editor: Fiona Patterson | Online Editor: Elena Silvestri Cecinelli
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