Study Links UK Austerity Policies to Long-Term Child Poverty
A new study by the University of Oxford reveals that more than one-fifth of British children born after 2013, termed the 'austerity generation,' have experienced poverty for at least half their childhood. Researchers attribute this surge in long-term hardship directly to welfare benefit cuts implemented by Conservative governments, including the freezing of working-age benefits, the two-child limit, and the benefit cap. These policies reduced annual welfare spending by approximately £37 billion, pushing hundreds of thousands of children into sustained poverty despite increases in the minimum wage. The study contrasts this trend with the late 1990s, when Labour reforms significantly reduced child poverty rates. Co-author Selçuk Bedük emphasizes that policy decisions directly impact poverty levels, warning of long-term harms to health and education. While the current government has recently abolished the two-child benefit limit to help lift an estimated 450,000 children out of poverty, other restrictive measures like the benefit cap remain in place. The findings highlight the enduring social legacy of austerity measures on vulnerable families in the UK.
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Study Links UK Austerity Policies to Long-Term Child Poverty
A new study by the University of Oxford reveals that more than one-fifth of British children born after 2013, termed the 'austerity generation,' have experienced poverty for at least half their childhood. Researchers attribute this surge in long-term hardship directly to welfare benefit cuts implemented by Conservative governments, including the freezing of working-age benefits, the two-child limit, and the benefit cap. These policies reduced annual welfare spending by approximately £37 billion, pushing hundreds of thousands of children into sustained poverty despite increases in the minimum wage. The study contrasts this trend with the late 1990s, when Labour reforms significantly reduced child poverty rates. Co-author Selçuk Bedük emphasizes that policy decisions directly impact poverty levels, warning of long-term harms to health and education. While the current government has recently abolished the two-child benefit limit to help lift an estimated 450,000 children out of poverty, other restrictive measures like the benefit cap remain in place. The findings highlight the enduring social legacy of austerity measures on vulnerable families in the UK.
The Guardian