London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 25, 2025

Universal credit rise lifted 400,000 children out of poverty, data shows

Universal credit rise lifted 400,000 children out of poverty, data shows

Experts say removal of £20-a-week boost and soaring living costs likely to push 1 million below UK breadline
About 400,000 children in the UK were lifted out of poverty during the first year of the pandemic because of the government’s £6bn universal credit boost, official figures have revealed, amid warnings benefit cuts could push more than 1 million people below the breadline.

Statistics published on Thursday showed years of rising relative poverty were reversed after ministers introduced a temporary extra £20-a-week to universal credit in April 2020, together with extra housing support, furlough and other measures in response to the Covid outbreak.

As a result, the incomes of the poorest 20% of households rose by 4% and unemployment stayed low, with campaigners heralding this as proof that investment in social security was an effective way of lifting children out of poverty.

There were 3.9 million children in relative poverty – defined as households receiving below 60% of the median annual income – during the first year of the pandemic, the data revealed, equivalent to 27% of all UK children, and down 400,000 year on year.

Campaigners and experts said the statistics showed this progress was likely to be a one-off as the withdrawal of the extra £20 a week, coupled with the rising costs of food and energy and below-inflation benefit increases, would take their toll on household living standards from April.

Ministers cancelled the £20-a-week boost along with other pandemic support measures in October, arguing – despite widespread opposition – that the government’s focus should shift to getting people into jobs and better paid work as the economy opened up.

The UK has since been gradually engulfed in a growing cost of living crisis, with living standards currently falling at the fastest rate since the 1950s. The energy price cap, council tax and national insurance contributions all rise on Friday, piling pressure on already struggling low-income households.

The Resolution Foundation thinktank estimated 1.3 million people, including 500,000 children, could be pushed into absolute poverty over the coming months as a result of ministers’ decision to increase benefits and the state pension at less than half the 8% inflation rate – equivalent to an £11bn cut in the value of support.

“The lack of targeted support in the recent spring statement means that households’ incomes are set to fall more sharply during the pandemic recovery than they did during the pandemic itself … It is essential that more support is delivered to turn this bleak living standards outlook around,” said the Resolution Foundation principal economist, Adam Corlett.

The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) said the figures showed ministers had “the power to protect children from poverty” but their failure to offer serious help in the spring statement last week indicated they had “turned their backs” on families struggling with the cost of living crisis.

“Many of the children who were lifted out of poverty by the £20 increase to universal credit have already been forced back over the brink by the government’s actions. And as millions struggle with spiralling costs, we know the picture will worsen,” the CPAG chief executive, Alison Garnham, said.

Analysis of the figures by the End Child Poverty coalition revealed the highest levels of child poverty at local authority level in 2020-21 were recorded in Middlesbrough, where 42% of children were living below the breadline. At parliamentary constituency level, 51% of all children in Birmingham Hodge Hill were in poverty.

Rishi Sunak’s spring statement included a 5p cut in fuel duty and increased the national insurance threshold but it rejected calls for inflation-matching benefit rises and the chancellor was widely criticised for ignoring the households struggling the most with the cost of living.

Boris Johnson promised an MPs’ committee on Wednesday he would examine a proposal to increase universal credit in line with inflation, after the Conservative MP Mel Stride warned him that claimants would “really suffer” as a result of the below-inflation benefit rise.

The work and pensions secretary, Thérèse Coffey, said in a statement on Thursday the focus would remain on boosting incomes through getting people into work, while a government spokesperson insisted work was “the best and most sustainable route out of poverty”.

The shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said cutting the £20 universal credit uplift had stripped away a vital lifeline. “That choice, combined with soaring energy bills, Tory tax hikes and real-terms cuts to universal credit and the state pension mean hard-pressed families now face the worst fall in living standards ever recorded.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
×