How would you tackle child poverty and improve outcomes?

@MellowPinkDeer I agree with you , paying benefits in vouchers would help the DCs directly. They would somehow have to be made non-transferable or they would just get sold so the adult could buy what they want.
Any DCs with allergies ( NOT dislikes ) should be able to get the right food without paying a fortune for it.

I don't think private landlords should be banned, but I do think they should be much more heavy regulated regarding the charges

They should not be able to charge ??% ( not sure ) more than the local council /HA/ house value.

Benefits for the first two dcs only . ( unless it's multiple births )

School uniforms should either be free or reasonably priced and better still easy to buy at supermarkets rather than 'uniform ' shops .

Any school equipment should be provided by the school, esp primary ages .

I’d probably start by defining what is meant by child poverty.

Absolutely. It’s so incredibly hard persuading these posters not everyone has a benevolent, responsible interior which just needs to be tapped into. So many people really just are selfish, uncaring, irresponsible, and there’s nothing we can do to change them.

She didn’t need an advisor to tell her.. Come on now, you can’t afford to smoke and go out drinking all weekend, your children are living shitty life’s and there’s nothing for dinner. She already knew, she just didn’t care. It’s not rocket science.

I completely and utterly agree with this. Selling off social housing was frankly a crime.

Yes and many social workers urge ‘at risk’ children’s parents to use their free nursery hours, because they desperately need the routine and engagement that nursery offers. For a diligent mother, being a SAHM means freshly prepared meals, toddler groups, time in the garden, reading books, a tidy home. For some it means endless Cocomelon and fruit pouches while mum blows vape smoke all over them. There are children who barely see the light of day, who are sent back to bed with pouches and a tablet to shut them up. Inevitably they are ‘SEN’ when they start school.

Council houses should not be sold, they should remain council owned, making more stock available to those that need it

Probably an unpopular opinion but I would:-

1. increase child benefit to £45 for each qualifying child in the household. This helps both working and non working families equally.
2. I would keep the two child cap on universal credit but increase the child allowance from £280-£380 each month. Again this helps low paid working families and non working families but does not encourage breeding for benefits.
3. Give all children that live in a household that receives universal credit free school meals, again helps low paid working families. (I know this will be introduced from September 2026)

Education is the only way out of the poverty cycle. Invest in education, starting with a decent early years education which develops children’s language and social skills.
And stop men being abusive, that would help as well.

I disagree. I put my child into excellent childcare at 8 months and went back to work. We have a secure income and a secure roof over our heads because of this. I am a happy, productive worker and my husband and I are both top rate taxpayers. 7 years on we have a very happy, intelligent, sociable child who is thriving. My career hasn’t stalled due to taking excessive time out of the workplace and job security fears are therefore much less.

How many happy, productive, intelligent women would just choose not to have kids at all if it meant they had to stay at home with them for 18 months? Working parents are a good thing.

Agree. Most of us are sick of it, hence the overcorrection in voting for parties like Reform who will decimate welfare completely. I don’t want that but the alternative is worse.

Far from a muppet. Welfare is ruining this country.

You muppet.

It will take a huge shift in mindset of this country. All too often people forget that everything 'free' is being paid for by someone else. The word 'free' should be eradicated.

Fund schools and social services properly.

Education is the best way out of poverty.
School was my saviour. My parents were violent alcoholic drug addicts. My school at the time was a warm, safe environment.

My teachers were not at breaking point so noticed what was going on. Had the time to understand what was going on and to help me while the balls were rolling with social services for me to be removed. They made sure I was fed on the days I wasn't fed, they made sure I could wash my hands and face on the days I wasn't allowed to use the bathroom, they recorded everyone to help the case to have me away and they made sure I learned so I could escape repeating the cycle by getting a good job.

Schools now spend so much time firefighting, and have had staff cut to the bone, that children like I was don't get the same level support. And that is in no way a criticism of the school staff - my teacher had a class helper she could call on when needed, our school nurture teacher was around, the school librarian was lovely, and the HT and DHT were in and out of classes often. Teachers now just don't have that level of support - and classes are often bigger on top.

Social services are vastly underfunded and therefore cannot help the children they should be helping, only able to be involved in the very worst of cases.

The other big change that would help child poverty, and child outcomes generally, would be to change societal attitudes over dodging maintenance and/or walking away from your children altogether. It's socially acceptable to not pay your ex for your child, all you have to do is claim she'll spend it on her hair or her night out. And it's so common that people don't pay anything when someone who pays £100 should pay £400 it's seen as greedy by the RP to push for more because "I don't get anything". The whole attitude to it needs to change.

I agree. It’s a human right not to starve and to have a roof over your head, but that doesn’t extend to the state catering to your every whim. If people want a bedroom per child or to buy alcohol/vapes, they can get a job and buy those things. The expectations of what the state should provide is utterly mad on here.

I would pay the majority of benefits in vouchers , rather than cash. This would hopefully ensure they are spent in the right places.

I also agree with everything in the OP. Though I don’t agree it’s down to the government to sort by themselves, we have to get PEOPLE being more responsible, having the amount of children that they can house and sustain. It’s often just irresponsible life choices that lead to poverty.

But the OP is proposing this for all children, not just the minority in the care system.

Extreme cases make bad laws.

The problem with that is that research shows that you start to become de-skilled after a year out of the workplace. Who is to pay for this? The country can’t afford it, and no employer would be willing to do so. As for single parents to have three years off, how on earth could any company, particularly a small one, cope with that? It would certainly have a deleterious effect on the economy.

It’s pie in the sky thinking, but concretely it would improve things for all children and families, which I think is the point of this thread.

They don’t want to make healthy choices. I know it’s hard to accept but it’s true.

Invest more in sure start/family hubs especially in deprived areas. Support families to cook on a budget, budget bills, make healthy choices.

That would be incredibly expensive and wouldn't help children in real poverty?

Children don’t choose what they are born into and cannot do anything to better their own situation.

People need to get their heads out of their arses and realise that children are people, the next generation who will run the country when we are all old. They are not luxury possessions like wide screen televisions or iPhones that people are wasting money on.

Anyway OP for me the CMS point is a biggie, make deadbeat dads (because it is almost always the Dad) pay for their children instead of running away from their responsibilities.

18 months of fully paid (at normal salary) parental leave for each parent, therefore covering the first three years of life if that’s how you choose to spread it.

Single parents can have 3 years, but also an option for their children to get fully funded childcare from 18 months.