Nursery World - Families with children under five face ‘steep rises’ in poverty, warns research

A new evidence review, published today by the Nuffield Foundation, finds that more than one in three children in the UK are living in poverty, amounting to 2.2 million under-fives.

Families with at least one child under five are facing the 'steepest' rise in poverty, according to the evidence review PHOTO Adobe Stock

Based a hundred research studies and other sources, the review examines patterns in poverty for young children. It reveals that while child poverty rates have fluctuated since 2000, there has been a sustained increase since 2013/14, with families with at least one child under five experiencing the steepest rise.

According to the evidence review, the rise in poverty is largely due to changes to the benefits system, including the two-child limit and the reduction of in-work support, reflecting the changing nature of work and family life, including the rise in insecure work and the growth of the private rental market.

The Nuffield Foundation argues that policy to address child poverty has been ‘shaped by political differences and changing socioeconomic circumstances, resulting in a lack of a sustained and consistent commitment to addressing child poverty over the last two decades'.

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