Erik W

Ideally the child poverty strategy would wipe out child poverty in the UK once and for all. But for the current government and, indeed any other government, to be able to keep their own wealth and status in society, they have to keep a clear divide among the classes. They keep us looking for hope in a fairer future, which I have personally given up on seeing within my lifetime.

My daughter is no longer in full time education, but living in poverty for most of her school life was an immense struggle for the two of us. As a bare minimum, child benefit payments should be increased as they have not kept up with inflation over the years. All school children should be given the opportunity to receive free school meals, and after school clubs and educational trips should also be free along with an end to branded school uniforms that can only be purchased from specialist shops at a premium price. Any of these simple changes would have made an incredible difference to my daughter’s education and prospects for the future.



Offering free school meals to all children would end a lot of bullying and stigma that children who do receive them face on a daily basis, children are also looked down upon by others due to parents not being able to afford the cost of school uniforms. All this is affecting the mental health of both children and parents across the UK, and holding children back from fulfilling their full educational achievements, which would help them to break the cycle of poverty that exists for so many families.