🛠️ What would a successful child poverty strategy look like?

A successful child 'ACCESS' strategy begins with a change in the language we use in order to achieve our goal. 'Access' is the key to breaking the cycle of generational poverty. And what does that look like? In short, we are looking at equal access to resources that create the environment for success.

It would look like a level playing field. Where all children, from all walks of life, have the same opportunities to reach their potential, to succeed in life, to perform to the best of their ability, and do amazing things to further the growth of communities across the UK and the world beyond.

- Access to nutritious food without fear. Free school breakfast and lunch for every child from the age of 4. Plus a weekly bag of pantry essentials per child. Families can opt out of these at any time for any length of time and re-access them for any reason at anytime. This eliminates the stigma associated from free food access. Where a child is educated outside of the state system, they can be provided for through community hubs, best suited at libraries. Local businesses can be incentivised to participate in donating fresh /excess food (tons already going to waste on a regular basis) or teaching free community classes on cooking economically, budgeting, repair shops, mending and making, entrepreneurship, etc.

- Access to equitable education. The postcode lottery should no longer determine the quality and value of education in an area. Literacy in a family is a key determinant of breaking cyclical poverty. Community hubs would provide adult literacy classes for free, computer support, skill share, cultural education and awareness. Local churches would be invited to participate in tutoring. Children could come in after school for additional help with subjects. Or a safe place to hang out and learn a skill, sport, video or traditional games. Gardening clubs near the community center would aim to feed the community and teach members valuable life skills.

- Access to equitable housing. Too many commercially zoned properties have stood vacant for far too long. If a property is vacant for more than a year, they must pay a weekly fine until it's being properly used. After 6 months of fines, they have the option of selling it to the council at a reduced price. If they choose not to, after 2 years the property is turned over to the community hub redevelopment group for reclamation. If the hub team with the input of the local community feels housing is needed, then the council will pay for the redevelopment into housing, or maybe it's better suited for a rehabilitation facility for the community, or a youth center etc... the community which is often several postcodes will decide what they want to do with the vacant property in their neighbourhoods. Housing must be safe and healthy. Community hubs volunteers are the go between with the tenants landlords and council. If the landlord refuse to repair a property, the hub institutes a fine structure and is free to ban the landlord from renting in the community. The hub will be given power to own community property that comes with responsibilities of community participation in exchange for subsidised rent.

- Access to equitable medical care again, ending postcode lottery care. Hubs should be staffed with a community nurse, care team. Drop in care clinic for colds, colic, triage for geriatric issues.

- Access to equitable clothing. Community hubs would have swap and shop for clothing. Every newborn gets a complete complimentary starter set. At the beginning of each school year every child gets a set amount on a debit card to buy what they need that isn't provided by the school/hub. Schools should FREELY supply everything needed for the learning environment. This includes uniforms. For every child. A parent may opt out, but it's not required.

🔄 What changes do you need to see?

Get US management companies out of the DWP.

Free university education or free trade schooling for those who aren't inclined to attend university.

A more tapered benefit system rather than cliff edge disasters.

More information provided to the millions of claimants who are missing out on extra help they are entitled to get yet don't know about it. An end to those claimants being underpaid whilst the DWP reap up the savings.

An end to the scrounger rhetoric once and for all.

An end to DWP incompetence, and department errors or overpayments being classed as fraud, an end to blaming the claimant instead of admitting their own mistakes, or wasting millions on appeals they won't win.

An end to all the corporate greed and corruption people are currently exposed to.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 What would it mean for you and your family?



When people are invested in their community, they have a desire to see it thrive and replicated. When feeling valued as individuals, people are more willing to go the extra mile. When people feel respected, aspirations are raised. All in all this is good for everyone.

Hello everybody, sorry for the late response.



My answers to the questions are as follows: Education access by giving early education and assisting less privileged children. Healthcare and stability by giving free school meals, mental health support, and health access.

What this will mean for me and my family is that it will reduce stress, and improve well-being.

The changes needed are as follows: Good healthcare access to ensure children’s well-being, improve access to education with free school meals, etc., and good financial assistance for low-income families.



Thank you.

A system that allocates equal resources to all children despite their immigration background. Child poverty does not respect one’s immigration status. Backdating child benefits for families that would have been granted Refugee status does not change or erase the years of living in poverty that children from families seeking asylum would have experienced.

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.

A successful strategy for child poverty would have to address several issues such as benefit adequacy, affordable housing, free school meals, and employment opportunities. There would have to be investments put in place to ensure the cycle of poverty is broken.

The strategy should provide a long term solution that is not a temporary fix or sticking plaster. There needs to be recognition that reducing child poverty benefits society as a whole.

I would like to not have to worry about money. My children would have good-quality food—not from food banks.

I would like to not have to worry about my Universal Credit being sanctioned, and I’d like my individual circumstances to be assessed as just that—individual—not as a one-size-fits-all formula. I would like to be seen as a working single mum with no family support, who needs help with affordable childcare because I’m not working just to pay for childcare while missing out on seeing my children grow. Holiday clubs should be open longer and be more affordable. There needs to be more support for older kids. As soon as my son turned 16, he was stripped of child benefit and the Scottish Child Payment, which, for someone already struggling, was a huge loss. My 16-year-old eats so much food—more than me and my youngest combined—yet I have no money to feed him properly.

The government needs to understand that, personally, I want to be around for my children and see them grow, rather than work and become a statistic. When my time is up, I don’t want my children to think, “Mum was never home; she was always working.” I do work, but my children come first. There needs to be easier systems for getting help with children who have disabilities. Free school meals should be available to every child in school. As they get older, they eat more, so why stop it in P5? That has always baffled me.

I would even be happy if single parents received more money and kept receipts to show the government what they used the money for. If it’s used for things like food, clothes, nappies, etc., then that’s great. However, if there are people out there who abuse the help (by buying drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, etc., and can’t prove where their money went), then they should face deductions.

Honestly, 17 years ago, if I had known this was the position I was going to be in, I probably wouldn’t have had children. I’ve actually told my 17-year-old son about the struggles because I don’t want him bringing life into this world without having a really good job. He wants to go into pharmacy, but everywhere, the world has gotten worse.

To me, a successful child poverty strategy would focus on the equitable treatment of children from birth to 18. It would include universal 15-hour and 30-hour childcare, free breakfast clubs, and school meals throughout education for all. It would ensure children are treated and counted equally in blended families and within the changing dynamics of families.

I’d like to see children entering further education (FE) not excluded from accessing apprenticeships or traineeships simply because it would remove child benefit, the child element, and housing entitlements from families already struggling. This is the epitome of the generational poverty trap and is such an easy fix.

I’d also like to see a public inquiry into the Child Maintenance Service and its errors, as well as the discrimination between children and the catastrophic damage it causes to parents.

I think:

— The government has to create more jobs to help families increase their incomes.

— Increase benefits for children.

— Provide houses and subsidies for families to reduce the child poverty.

— Bring down living costs for families

These will help to reduce poverty in families.

To know what strategies help to reduce child poverty we have to study the factors that keep families in poverty, such as the immediate needs of children and long-term needs of children.



In my opinion, we can adress children poverty with these strategies:

1. Increase child benefits and ensure that all families receive this benefit equally.

2. Increase free childcare and nurseries to help families work or study.

3. Provide free school meals, uniforms, transport, etc.

4. Increase the training and education opportunities for families to improve their skills.

For me, a successful child poverty strategy would be a multi-faceted approach which would directly tackle low incomes, increase minimum wage, and increase benefits.

In addition to this, I think a successful child poverty strategy would also involve initiatives that would improve access to affordable housing, healthcare, education and childcare, all of which are factors that are, in my opinion, increasing child poverty in the UK at present.

In relation to this, a successful child poverty strategy, to me, would also need to explore and address the underlying causes of poverty in the first place - such as possibly providing financial literacy training and providing better employment opportunities for families on low incomes.

January has been the Januaryiest of Januarys.



It being a five-week month means my assessment period for UC gets messed up, as I’m paid twice in the assessment period. This makes it look as if I earn double what I actually do. Because, God forbid, the government should rectify this issue in their beloved Universal Credit for those it affects.



Having a December birthday for my child also means January is a struggle, paying back credit cards and loans.



It just seems never ending at the moment, doom and gloom all around.

A strategy that actually worked, that actually was able to help people become better off to be able to give their children the life they deserve now and in the future. For the government to walk a mile in our shoes, for them to understand that what ‘they say’ we ‘can’ live on is actually not correct. To give parents a break or breathing space if something goes wrong. To know that there is help and support where it is actually needed and not being pawned off to anyone else.