The poorest households, particularly families with more than two children and single parents, will be most severely impacted by another four years of Conservative government, research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has shown. The report forecasts the percentage of children in relative poverty will rise by eight per cent and those in absolute poverty by three per cent by 2020-21. This will almost entirely be felt by families with three or more children, as the Department for Work and Pensions has decided to limit child tax credit and universal credit to families with two children from April 2017 under the Welfare Reform and Work Bill.
The suffering caused is not limited to this group, however. These planned cuts to welfare will counter the progress made in increasing incomes and lowering the number of people living below the poverty line in the last two years. “The alarming figures are that by the end of this Tory government one in four children will be living in relative poverty, with a rise to 2.6 million children living in absolute poverty,” said the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell. READ MORE
