How would you tackle child poverty and improve outcomes?

@Googoogrrfff Why do people think they can do nothing and everyone else will pay? Maintenance for university was means tested throughout most of the last century! It’s not up to the poorest workers to pay for the 37% of dc who want to go to university and increasingly find they aren’t earning much (or at all) afterwards. Increase partition and someone has to pay. At the moment the students owe the government. Around £240 billion. So no, it cannot be free and written off - we need a good proportion paid back.

What services for people on a low income? How low? The ones who won’t work more hours because they lose benefits?

By mobilising the poor and non-voters to vote in their best interests.

I like your ideas OP.
I would add a massive council house building programme to house working people.

How would a party get elected with a manifesto to raise taxes to pay for all this?

Yep. Take it all. Snatch it and leave them in the skip. (Evil laugh)..

Basically free everything, take money from those that work hard and give it to those that don't?

Umm. Gary Stevenson has been outed as a fraud and a charlatan.

Universal basic income.

Free university

No benefit cap

Higher taxes

Specialised services for people on a low income

I completely agree with this. We have to be very targeted about where we offer financial support otherwise you will end up subsidising people that simply don't need it. It creates a weird dependency on the state and places them as some extortionately expensive middle man where lots of families will be paying more tax to fund their own children's FSMs or holiday clubs.

Have a listen to Gary’s Economics he’s on fb it’s really interesting. He talks about this a lot.

Families with children are 100% higher priority than lone males or just couples.

Problem is the family often needs a 3 bed house/flat. The lone male or couple only need a bedsit or 1 bed may more of those than empty 3 bed council properties and they won’t knowingly put you somewhere that makes you overcrowded.

Do we? Surely they're on different lists for a different kind of accomodation?

Everyone in temporary accommodation is prioritised afaik. Family accomodation is in short supply because of years of right to buy

If employers have to pay lots more it will change the employment landscape. Companies are going bankrupt and job vacancies are falling, especially for graduates. We can see that making employment more expensive harms growth. So changing benefits would be a tax on employment and that will end in unemployment. Be careful what you wish for. A start would be no benefits if not working 30 hours. No few hours to get all the benefits and dc getting full loans for university and bursaries too because people won’t work full time.

All children in temporary accommodation
Would go to the top of the housing list for council houses .
It upsets me so much ,that we prioritise able males above children who are dependants ,for a home .
I know of a family who the eldest is sitting gces and have have spent most of their life in temporary accommodation..no kitchen,no garden,no bedroom.
Makes me sick

I think it's fantastic that schools have moved to digital money systems for school dinners. It makes neglect easier to spot. When i was sent into school with lunch money it wasnt picked up on. There's also an awareness of period poverty now, so free sanitary products in school and public library bathrooms. So no more sock/toilet paper padding.

They can mostly make their money elsewhere though, and even if they're not paying enough tax, they are creating jobs while they stay.

They should be able to set their own rent , as I said it should be monitored and set at a standard of no more than a certain percentage higher than the value in that area.
Like pp I rent ( HA) , the house next door to me which is exactly the same layout as mine is over £200 more pm than mine.

Decent low cost housing with proper public realm to encourage community spirit.
Early years parenting support such as Home Start provides.
No more government support for low wages. UC is effectively a subsidy enabling employers to pay low wages. No one in full employment should need to claim benefit.

Decent healthcare and proper schooling.

The trouble is, the UK can't afford any of the solutions as things currently stand. Increasing taxation is not the answer to that either. Alienating high/higher rate taxpayers will only serve to reduce tax revenue. Hammering organisations will only make them move elsewehere. A healthy sovereign wealth fund is what is needed. If only the UK had followed Norway with the North Sea oil reserves.

I don’t think they will move there’s too much money here. They’re absolutely raking it in and they need to pay or FO

I grew up in a family of six dcs where our f kept breeding because he got more family allowance. We were nothing more than a revenue stream, and there are plenty of men who see children that way. We went without while he had handmade suits.

I'd pay child benefit in vouchers, for school uniform, for shoes, for food to stop that happening again. I'd refinance SureStart centres and provide free school meals.

I'd offer free childcare for the under 11s to any mum attending college or working full time. There has to be a viable way for women to gain skills and escape poverty because it is women who lead their children out of poverty.

Bring back food and clothing vouchers, which is probably against people’s human rights these days.

I'm as socialist as they come and I agree absolutely the super rich should pay their taxes, but they don't and how are you going to make them? They're the group that can easily move elsewhere.

👏👏👏👏👏Absolutely 100%

But despite that, there was lasting impact. Imagine what could have been achieved if voters government hadn't refused to continue funding it.

For a relatively small investment, and as you say, only maintained for a short period, these outcomes are nothing short of miraculous.

ifs.org.uk/publications/short-and-medium-term-effects-sure-start-childrens-outcomes