No Rosy Future

Almost 2 million more children than there are at the moment will be in poverty at Christmas in 15 years’ time, according to projections by the Fabian Society and Landman Economics. It suggested a family 10% off the bottom of the income distribution would expect to earn only another £90 a year – a rise of 1% – while those the same distance from the top would be 25% better off with an extra £1,600. Cuts falling disproportionately on single parents meant the number of children living in poverty would rise from 2.5 million (19%) to 4.4 million (28%), it said – far higher than was anticipated under the previous coalition government. That would include another 800,000 in “absolute” poverty: below a set benchmark representing the necessary income to afford the basics of life. 

Andrew Harrop, the Fabian Society general secretary, said: “If decisions made this year go unchanged, more British children will be hungry at Christmas 2030 than today. We will live in a country where food banks are an entrenched part of everyday life, not a response to short-term crisis. Is that the gift we want to leave the next generation?”