Free school meal rule change to make 500,000 more pupils eligible Charities have broadly welcomed the plans, saying they hope it is a sign of more to come.

‘A game-changer for children and families. We hope this is a sign of what's to come in the autumn's child poverty strategy, with government taking more action to meet its manifesto commitment to reduce child poverty in the UK.’ - Our head of education policy Kate Anstey www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Ministers privately ruling out scrapping two-child benefits cap Sources says government is ‘not going to find a way’ to ditch cap despite predictions that child poverty levels will soar

If this is true it is deeply worrying. Without commitment to using levers available to government through welfare reform, the national child poverty strategy will not be worth the paper its written on. And that must include removing the two child limit.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Our new analysis shows child poverty will rise even higher on this government’s watch - to 4.8m by the end of this parliament (2029/30) - unless it takes urgent action including scrapping the two-child limit in its forthcoming child poverty strategy and stepping back from benefit cuts.

Spring Statement: Labour pledge £2bn funding for social housing Rachel Reeves said top-up funding would deliver 18,000 social homes by 2029

As always the devil is in the detail and "affordable housing" is not really affordable for many people. We need clarity on this and we really need a commitment to proper social housing which provides affordable, long-term homes for families who need them.

www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

A blueprint for Young Futures hubs | CYPMHC The Fund the Hubs campaign has long been calling  for a national network of early support hubs to ensure that children and young people receive timely mental health and wellbeing support. The Governme...

The Government's Young Futures hubs are a timely opportunity to invest in early intervention mental health support for young people - something we've called for over years alongside our Fund the Hubs campaign partners.

So we've set out a blueprint for designing & delivering these hubs 👇

In our research with @centreformh.bsky.social we observed that various barriers can impact school attendance. This includes but is not limited to: mental health difficulties, special educational needs and disabilities, poverty, racism, being a young carer and care experience (3/4)

Challenges for women in North East 'cannot be ignored' this International Women's Day Politicians and local leaders have spoken out today (March 8) in support of International Women's Day in an impassioned plea to break barriers and…

"What we need to be doing is speaking to people, listening and taking action on their experience. If we want to make a difference, we need to look at it systemically."
Lorna Nicoll from our Poverty Proofing© team speaks out for IWD and poverty issues facing women in the North East.
loom.ly/y_cdGEs

Parents fear what they're feeding their kids as prices back them into a corner Almost one in five parents have to buy unhealthy food for their children because they can’t afford healthier options - as campaigners call for free school meals expansion

We're calling for free school meals for all primary school children, and immediately to families on Universal Credit. CEO @lynnanneperry states "with the price of basic items staying stubbornly high, healthy food is out of reach". Read more: www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

@childrennortheast.bsky.social has signed this letter asking government to make sure the spending review put disadvantaged children first to give them the best chance to achieve and thrive.

A disproportionately high number of kids in poverty live in a household with a disabled person. Stripping essential support will be damaging to disabled people and risks undermining the government’s child poverty strategy. Government can’t cut its way to better living standards for all.

Chart showing that in 2018, the UK was among the worst in Europe for child poverty rates, second only the Greece.

The UK is among the worst nations in Europe for child poverty.

In the UK, 11% of 15-year-olds reported they had skipped a meal in 2022 because there wasn't enough money to buy food.

In the Netherlands and Finland, this number was 3%.

Children’s building blocks showing the components of a child poverty strategy, with these words on the different blocks: childcare; services for children & families; education; housing; social security; employment; and targets, leadership, accountability & coordination.

The UK child poverty strategy is a huge opportunity to significantly reduce child poverty, which has been rising over the past 15 years.

Funded by @impurbanhealth.bsky.social, CPAG with @savechildrenuk.bsky.social have researched how to deliver the strategy.

Read more: cpag.org.uk/news/buildin...

Lots of useful analysis here. Standout stat - 2 million economically inactive people want a job. They don’t need harsher benefit conditionality or lower incomes. They need better support & more accessible jobs. That’s what health & disability reforms should focus on.

Assisted dying: death is ugly due to a chopped up NHS The Assisted Dying Bill has made people fearful of ugly and horrible deaths - but dying is only that way thanks to an underfunded, chopped up NHS.

Assisted suicide: death is ugly, but only because of the shocking state of care

The Assisted Dying Bill has made people fearful of ugly and horrible deaths - but dying is only that way thanks to an underfunded, chopped up NHS, says @rachelcdailey.bsky.social
www.thecanary.co/opinion/2025...

“There are plenty of remote jobs disabled people could be doing”

On the dwp Find a Job site (which replaced the jobcentre site) there’s 122k jobs.
fully remote 877
+ in NE England - 30
in my city - 6
+ disability confident ZERO

The most interesting part? They're all pip assessor jobs.

The decline in young people's mental health is unacceptable. It's one of the biggest health, social and economic challenges of our time. That's why alongside Centre for Mental Health, Centre for Young Lives, Young Minds and supported by the Prudence Trusts we’re launching the #FutureMindsCampaign