A snapshot survey of medical staff working on the front line suggested the number of child patients they see with poverty-related ill health has risen in the past two years, and the impact of such poverty has increased in severity, with issues including overcrowded or damp housing playing a part.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer pledged to “leave no stone unturned to give every child the very best start at life” when the ministerial taskforce was announced on July 17 last year to start work on a child poverty strategy.
The strategy had been due to be published in spring, but was subsequently delayed until autumn to align with the Chancellor’s budget.
The Labour Government has faced sustained pressure to scrap the two-child benefit limit – which restricts child tax credit and universal credit (UC) to the first two children in most households.
Organisations working in the sector argue that 109 children across the UK are pulled into poverty by the policy every day and that an estimated 350,000 children would be lifted out of poverty immediately if it was scrapped.
A new snapshot survey of members of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) across the UK found just over three-quarters of those polled said the number of patients with poverty-related ill health has increased in the past two years, and the impact of poverty on the health of children is becoming more severe.
The survey, made up of 371 responses from paediatricians in April and June this year, found almost all (99%) said said poverty was contributing to ill health among the children they treat, while a similar proportion (96%) said poor housing conditions including overcrowding and damp are affecting the health of the children they treat.
A majority of those working with patients in hospital said they had struggled to discharge a child because of poverty-related reasons in the past six months.
As well as the issue of substandard housing conditions, paediatricians highlighted problems such as strained finances resulting in families accessing nutritious food, and barriers for some families around getting to healthcare appointments because of the associated costs of travel, parking, childcare and potential loss in earnings in taking time out of work.
RCPCH officer for health improvement Dr Helen Stewart said: “Child poverty in the UK is at an unbearable level, and as a paediatrician, I am deeply concerned by the condition of children arriving at frontline health services.
“The responses to the recent survey are heartbreakingly familiar, poverty is not only worsening children’s health – it’s pushing the child healthcare workforce to their limits. This is a crisis that demands decisive action from Government.”
She described the upcoming child poverty strategy as a “vital opportunity for the Government to make a meaningful and lasting impact”, and urged ministers to “prioritise the welfare of our children and safeguard our future society”.
Child Poverty Action Group chief executive Alison Garnham said: “Poverty is exacting an appalling toll on the nation’s children.
“Blue lights are flashing at Government, and without urgent action the health of the next generation will be compromised.
“Children deserve better and Government’s child poverty strategy must invest in their futures, starting by scrapping the two-child limit.”
The latest figures showed there were 4.45 million children estimated to be in UK households in relative low income, after housing costs, in the year to March 2024 – the highest number since comparable records for the UK began in 2002/03.
A Government spokesperson said: “Every child – no matter their background – deserves the best start in life.
“That’s why we are rolling out family hubs to provide health, education and wellbeing support, investing £500 million in children’s development and taking preventative action as part of our 10 Year Health Plan.
“As part of our plan for change our child poverty taskforce will publish an ambitious strategy to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty, and we are already expanding free school meals, introducing a fair repayment rate on universal credit deductions, and ensuring the poorest children don’t go hungry in the holidays through a new £1 billion support package.”
