It's 15 years since the UK government promised to end child poverty. Time to revive that ambition

This week marks the anniversary of the Child Poverty Act, a law that once reflected a national commitment to ensuring no child in the UK grew up in deprivation. Fifteen years later, that commitment has been abandoned. Child poverty is rising, and policies like the two-child limit and the benefit cap are making it worse.

On top of this, the government also recently announced cuts to disability benefits, which is expected to push even more children into poverty. This is not just a moral issue; it is a violation of human rights.

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Just last month, the United Nations reviewed the UK’s domestic human rights record and their recommendations are stark. The UN raised specific concerns about the lack of a comprehensive child poverty strategy, calling for increased spending on social security and the removal of the two-child limit. After all this time, and years of broken promises, will the UK government listen?

The two-child limit in particular, is one of the most punitive  policies in recent memory, and a key driver of child poverty. It restricts benefits to the first two children in a family. For families already struggling to make ends meet, this policy means harder choices. The result is more food bank use, more homelessness, and more children trapped in cycles of deprivation.

When quizzed on why the UK government is so intent on retaining this cruel, austerity-era policy, senior Labour figures have often talked about the need for tough decisions and for only putting forward policies that are economically sound.

However, child poverty is not just a human rights failing—it’s also an economic disaster. Growing up in poverty affects children’s education, health, and future job prospects, entrenching inequality for generations. A country where one in three children live in relative poverty is a country that is failing its future.

Critics argue that removing the two-child limit would be costly, but the reality is that failing to act costs even more. The Child Poverty Action Group estimates that child poverty costs the UK economy around £39 billion a year in lost tax revenue and additional public service spending. Investing in children’s lives is not just the right thing to do—it’s a sound economic decision.

In addition, studies show that one pound invested in combating child poverty provides a return of at least seven pounds and improved learning outcomes, longer education and higher productivity as adults.

The recent UN report was clear: the UK government must take responsibility for rising poverty levels. The recommendation to remove the two-child limit is a direct challenge to Westminster’s failure to address economic injustice. Labour now faces a crucial test. It campaigned on a promise of fairness and economic competence. Tackling child poverty must be central to this mission.

Now, at the 15-year anniversary of the Child Poverty Act, is the perfect time to act.

The UK once led the way in tackling child poverty. Under the last Labour government, poverty fell significantly due to targeted policies like tax credits, early-years investment, and expanded social security support. From 1998 to 2010, over a million children were lifted out of poverty, proving that the right policies can make a difference.

Then in 2010, Labour set out to eradicate child poverty completely with the introduction of pioneering legislation – the Child Poverty Act 2010 – which set legally binding targets to reduce relative, absolute, and persistent child poverty by 2020.

However, these efforts were halted in 2015 when the Conservative-led government chose to formally abandon the Child Poverty Act and redefined what it saw as the drivers of child deprivation, putting emphasis on lifestyle factors and shifting the responsibility to individual choices. This set the tone for the following decade.

The ambition from 15 years ago is due a revival. Ending the two-child limit is the first step, but it must be part of a broader strategy: increasing benefits, investing in education, and enshrining our human rights such as the right to social security, to an adequate standard of living, and all our other everyday rights, into domestic law.

The UK can and must do better. Fifteen years have essentially been wasted, and the UN has sent a clear message. Now, the UK government must decide whose side it is on: the children struggling in poverty or the failed policies that put them there.

It’s time to recommit to a future where peoples’ rights are protected. A future where no child goes hungry, no family is punished for having children, and no government ignores its duty to protect those in need. The last Labour government showed that huge reductions in child poverty are possible – when the political will is there. Child poverty in the UK is not inevitable – it’s a political choice. The time for action is now.

Alex Firth is Advocacy and Communications Officer at Just Fair.

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