Kate Andersen

NEW STATS: 1 in 9 children (1.6 million) are affected by the two-child limit.

Government’s moral mission to tackle child poverty will make our country a better, stronger place, but families urgently need action not just words.

Annual Policymaker Reports – A Safety Nets briefing This is the first in a series of Annual Policymaker Reports that summarise key findings from across the Safety Nets project for policymaker audiences. Each series has five reports containing key infor...

We've published the first round of @safety-nets.bsky.social's Annual Policymaker Reports

These provide important insights for policymakers across the UK working to tackle child poverty

safetynets.study/publications...

V important research from @beckshewer.bsky.social showing the serious deficiencies in how the heinous 'rape clause' in the two-child limit operates in practice

Safety nets — Social security for families in a devolved UK This project will explore the extent of the devolution of social security within the UK and the realities, risks, and opportunities this poses for families with dependent children.

Are you:
✅ Living in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland?
✅ A parent or carer of a child under 18?
✅ Receiving at least one UK benefit (e.g. Universal Credit, PIP, Tax Credits) or asylum support?

If so – we’d love to hear from you.

safetynets.study/take-part

New @lsepoliticsblog.bsky.social blog on local welfare as part of our @safety-nets.bsky.social research. In workstream 3 we're exploring discretionary & local welfare & asking questions about spatial inequalities & poverty reduction.

blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

The latest Household Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics show that poverty continues to affect millions of children in the UK, with 4.5 million affected by poverty during 2023-2024, an increase of 100,00 on the year before. These figures should shame us all, and must be examined alongside the UK Government’s proposals to take £4.8 billion in social security support from some of the most vulnerable, and indeed poorest, among us. The Government’s own Impact Assessment suggests that 50,000 more children will be pulled into relative poverty as a direct result of these changes. But another way is possible. For the past five years, almost 200 parents and carers living on a low-income from all four nations of the UK have been working alongside researchers at the University of York and Child Poverty Action Group to document everyday life in poverty and to push for change. The project started life as Covid Realities in the pandemic and became Changing Realities in a cost-of-living crisis that has never gone away. In our work together, we have contributed real-time evidence to policymakers, challenged harmful media narratives, and developed co-produced recommendations for change.

“I never ever get to the end of the month feeling ok”

Today's poverty stats reveal growing inequality in UK. In latest @changingrealities.bsky.social briefing, parents share what life is really like & set out a new approach - and why the government must act.

changingrealities.org/writings/cut...

Research funded by @nuffieldfoundation.org and Research England Policy Support fund facilitated by The York Policy Engine

Our research shows the harm the two-child limit on benefits is doing. Only scrapping it can end this Many parents we spoke to had resorted to using foodbanks or had cut back on food spending.

Ahead of the Spring Statement, piece from @kittyjstewart.bsky.social & I on how the two-child limit & the benefit cap need to be fully abolished if the child poverty strategy is to have real impact. Both policies cause damage to children's current & future lives. theconversation.com/our-research...

Turning the tide • Resolution Foundation Ahead of the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy, which promises to bring about “an enduring reduction in child poverty”, this report looks at what might be needed to achieve this welcome goal in the ...

1 in 2 children in families with three or more children will be in poverty by the end of this parliament without abolition of the two-child limit says @alexclegg.bsky.social @resfoundation.bsky.social today. The future must be better www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...

New project will find out if the Scottish Child Payment alleviates financial hardship & impacts less tangible aspects of poverty like stigma. With @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social @kittyjstewart.bsky.social @emmatominey.bsky.social, Ilona Pinter & Suzanna Nesom, funded by @financialfairness.bsky.social