Sam is a Lead Analyst, undertaking analysis for JRF’s work on social security, communities and place, and the wider economy. Sam was previously a Senior Economist at the New Economics Foundation, predominantly working on social security and housing policy, and before that was a Senior Analyst at Policy in Practice. Sam holds a Masters in Mathematics from the University of Bath.
Email: sam.tims@jrf.org.uk
New JRF figures but the same old story: the Government needs to address the cost of living crisis overwhelming millions of UK households to deliver growth, with fairness at its heart.
The Government said its child poverty strategy will focus on severe and acute poverty, so it must prioritise large families, lone parents and disabled people.
A new safety net in Universal Credit would limit hardship from debt deductions and the benefit cap, giving 130,000 people a lifeline out of poverty.
Adding a protected minimum floor to Universal Credit and removing the two-child limit will reverse declining living standards for families with children and get child poverty falling.
Average incomes are expected to fall by £550 over this parliament, meaning the Government risks having the worst living standards performance of any parliament on record.
A year into the new Labour Government, key hardship measures show no improvement - over 7 million low-income families are still going without essentials.
Cutting support for disabled people will increase their risk of hardship, making it even more difficult to find a decent job, particularly in parts of the country with fewer suitable vacancies.
Very deep poverty is rising in Wales. More people using food banks, unable to heat their homes, or living in temporary accommodation, means the human cost and impact on public services is huge.
This briefing sets out which children are at greatest risk of such severe and acute poverty, and what a child poverty strategy must include to address it.