London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 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
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
×