The Government’s strategy for tackling child poverty.
The removal of the two-child cap signals real progress and the Government’s recently published strategy signals good intentions, but building a society where every family can flourish will require deeper change.
This year’s Budget marks a significant turning point in the national conversation about child poverty, family life, and the value our society places on care. For years, campaigners, faith communities, and anti-poverty organisations have highlighted the deep injustice of policies that leave families struggling not because of a lack of love or willingness to work, but because of structures that keep them on the margins. The 2025 Budget, with the headline-grabbing removal of the two-child limit and newly published Child Poverty Strategy, offers reason for hope. Yet hope alone is not enough. If this is the beginning of a new direction, then the question for us is simple: where do we go from here?
A Step Forward: The Removal of the Two-Child Cap
One of the most welcome announcements, after years of campaigning as a network, is the decision to remove the two-child benefit cap from April 2026. The Government estimates that this change will lift 450,000 children out of poverty, one of the most substantial single policy improvements in recent memory. The cap has been widely criticised as a “sibling tax,” penalising children simply for being born into larger families. Countless parents have spoken of the impossible decisions it forced upon them. cutting back on food, skipping heating, relying on foodbanks, or spiralling into debt.
The removal of the cap signals a shift toward a more family-friendly policy environment. It acknowledges what faith traditions have long held: that every child is a blessing, not a burden; every child deserves dignity, security, and a chance to thrive. Repealing the cap alone will not fix child poverty, but it matters. It speaks into a wider national narrative that larger families are not a problem. It is also important to note that the fact that the household benefit cap was not addressed and could still penalise larger families.
We hope that other Budget measures will ease pressure too. The national minimum wage for over-21s will rise from £12.21 to £12.71 an hour, with increases also for younger workers. Prescription charges will remain frozen at £9.90 for 2026/27, continuing last year’s freeze. These are modest shifts, but for families living week-to-week, even small protections can make daily life more manageable.
The New Child Poverty Strategy
The long-awaited Child Poverty Strategy has finally arrived. The Government claims that the measures set out within it could lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030, which is supposedly the largest recorded reduction since records began. The Strategy acknowledges that children who grow up in poverty are more likely to struggle academically, face unemployment later in life, and earn less over their lifetime. However, the emphasis comes down to the belief from the Government that this is an economic problem over a moral one, saying that children who grow up in poverty “hold the economy back”.
We would frame this differently: poverty holds people back and a just economy should allow human flourishing in vibrant and inclusive communities. Describing children primarily in economic terms is not in line with the Church’s social doctrine. When the value of a child is assessed through future productivity, we risk forgetting that every person has inherent dignity and a “mission in this life”[1], independent of economic output.
Among the most substantial policy proposals is an expansion of childcare support for families on Universal Credit. Upfront childcare costs (often a barrier for parents returning to work) will now be more accessible, with eligibility extended to those returning from parental leave. Families will also be able to receive support for childcare costs for more than two children. These interventions will be a welcome help to many, helping parents re-enter the labour market and avoid falling into debt.
However, the underlying motivation seems to be clear: the focus is overwhelmingly on getting parents, perhaps specifically mothers, back into work. Support is conditional and tied to labour participation. There is little recognition of unpaid care as work in itself, or flexibility for families who rely on grandparents or wider kinship networks. The question becomes: should the purpose of this child poverty strategy be economic or to see families who are empowered and flourishing?
Beyond Economic Logic: A Vision Rooted in Dignity
Catholic Social Teaching invites us to look deeper. In his new Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te, Pope Leo XIV offers a stark diagnosis of our current economic order:
“We must continue, then, to denounce the ‘dictatorship of an economy that kills’…
This imbalance is the result of ideologies that defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace…
Nevertheless, the dignity of every human person must be respected today, not tomorrow, and the extreme poverty of all those to whom this dignity is denied should constantly weigh upon our consciences.”[2]
Here, human dignity is not a policy instrument. It is the foundation on which all else is built on.
If the Budget and Child Poverty Strategy mark the beginning of a shift, then let them be the opening chapter, not the conclusion. Relieving poverty is essential, but true justice demands structural change. Pope Leo goes further still:
“We need to be increasingly committed to resolving the structural causes of poverty… Welfare projects, which meet certain urgent needs, should be considered merely provisional responses..” [3]
“One structural issue that cannot realistically be resolved from above and needs to be addressed as quickly as possible has to do with the locations, neighborhoods, homes and cities where the poor live and spend their time”[4]
Removing the two-child cap will prevent unnecessary suffering. Increasing childcare support will help parents work. But transformation means building an economy that places families at the centre, where work is dignified and pays enough to live on, where housing is secure, and where parents can care for their children without facing poverty as punishment.
So Where Do We Go From Here?
We welcome the progress made. We celebrate every child lifted out of poverty. But we must not stop here. A just society does not simply mitigate poverty, it prevents it at the root cause. It structures the economy around the wellbeing of families and the dignity of workers. It values care as labour. It sees children not as future taxpayers, but as persons loved into existence who have a “future and a hope” (Jer 29:11)
True renewal will come when people are placed above profit; when social systems support families not only to survive, but to flourish. The Budget has opened a door. Now we must walk through it and keep pushing for the day when every child grows up with hope, security, and dignity.
For more information and enquiries please contact:
Daisy Inglese
Senior Officer for Policy and Public Affairs
daisy.inglese@csan.org.uk
[1] St John Henry Newman
[2] Dilexi Te (92) https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20251004-dilexi-te.html
[3] Dilexi Te (94)
[4] Dilexi Te (96)
You must be logged in to post a comment.