Families with children disproportionately bore the brunt of social security cuts through the 2010s. The tail of that damage is long, but the government deserves credit for beginning to unwind it.

Thanks to @bigissue.com for publishing my comment piece on the child poverty strategy.

Tabloids labelled the end of the two-child limit on benefits the 'opening of benefits street'. Joseph Howes explains why this is so dangerous.

Stacey from @changingrealities.bsky.social has written such an honest blog about why, even with awful trolling, she won’t stop speaking up for people living in poverty www.changingrealities.org/blog/why-i-w...

My reflections on last week's child poverty strategy; its significant strengths, and why it can't be the last word: www.actionforchildren.org.uk/blog/the-chi...

The "ballooning" welfare bill is the myth that just won't die

Scrapping the two-child limit *is* welfare reform. Defining ‘reform’ solely as ‘cut’ is one reason why it’s proved so difficult

The #workandpensionselectcommittee commissioned analysis to estimate the savings and financial benefit of Universal credit (UC) claimants currently unemployed or economically inactive returning to work through employment and health support programmes.

There is no need for a moral panic about the UK's welfare system. Far from perfect but recent discourse is nuts Spending is controlled, not spiralling Worklessness is near record lows My column www.ft.com/content/ee67...

As they arrive at the Labour Party Conference, we're greeting Keir Starmer and his MPs with a message that demands a screen bigger than 21,000 mobile phones*: "What was the point of winning the general election if not to lift kids out of poverty?" 1/3

Only exempting the 59% of affected families that are in work would of course do nothing for the very poorest families, while saving a relative pittance in welfare budget terms. UK child poverty levels are extremely high both historically and internationally, half measures wont cut it

Announcing Generation New Era: the first UK-wide birth cohort study in 25 years. It will study 30,000 children born in 2026 across the four nations of the UK. Watch out for upcoming opportunities for researchers and other stakeholders to engage with the study team via @clscohorts.bsky.social

'It's time to face facts and end the two-child limit on benefits' - our op-ed with other organisations www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

Good to see a big investment in tackling child poverty from the NE Mayor, an action plan with actual tangible actions and clear measures of progress. Sets a strong example for other local leaders of what can be achieved at this level, while recognising national policy has the biggest role to play.

I have written for the @bigissue.com on the two-child limit and the resurgence of an old debate, is cash or services best for reducing child poverty? I argue social security is not just a short-term fix, but essential to enabling parents to engage with services and promoting good outcomes.

One year on from the Child Poverty Taskforce launch, the govt has made strong commitments on free school meals, social housing, family hubs & crisis support. But success hinges on what is to be done on social security this autumn, as per this piece from @cpaguk.bsky.social , us and others

The impact of the two-child limit continues its relentless rise, over 1.6m children & ~40K more than last year (the year-on-year increase was somewhat offset by end of tax credits in April). As the policy is still rolling out, more children will be pulled into poverty every day it remains in place.

This is a message to Keir Starmer. Almost 40,000 MORE children are missing out on the support they need because of the two-child limit than there were last year. We urge the UK Government to scrap the two-child limit now. Write to your MP: bit.ly/3GKJVfS

Concerning to see. The government won't get child poverty falling on their watch while the two-child limit remains in place. Hope the wrong lessons are not being drawn from the past week...

That would be the wrong conclusion. This isn’t about sticking to plans, it’s about not having good plans to begin with. This policy was terrible from day one. Any commentary should start from there.

"It's not just PIP" I've written an overview of the government's disability benefit plans - covering not just PIP and the Timms review, but also Universal Credit, contributory ESA and statistics around PIP reviews - and what's being voted on when www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

As Parliament prepares to vote tomorrow on cuts to PIP and UC-Health, the Govt consultation on longer-term changes to the benefits system also closes. A thread on the good, the bad and the messy included in the consultation... www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...

Important point! There's just no policy or moral justification for raising eligibility for UC health to 22. Will hit disabled young people incl. vulnerable care leavers and those living in supported accommodation who need it to cover service costs. Basic UC (already a reduced rate) often not enough

Amid all the talk about the Government's cuts to health and disability benefits, it's worth pausing to reflect on the backdrop: a large and growing number of adults in the UK are in poor health. Today we got new high-quality data on the prevalence of mental health conditions across England...

Brilliant piece on the swirling discontent around Morgan McSweeney by @pickardje.bsky.social, @georgewparker.bsky.social and @annasophiegross.bsky.social:

The FFT is a valuable ongoing source of data on family finances since Covid. June 2025 edition shows 40% of households with 3+ children struggle to pay for food and other essentials.

So you have a situation where a plurality of voters and a majority of Labour 2024 voters would now support a u-turn on the PIP cuts along with Green and Lib Dem voters, only Tory voters are particularly split.

(1/2) With a heavy heart, I have written to the Prime Minister to tender my resignation as a whip. Whilst I will continue to support the government in delivering the change the country so desperately needs, I cannot vote in favour of the proposed reforms to disability benefits.

No % confirmed yet, but this is very positive. Many more social rent homes are needed to help tackle child poverty. AfC-commissioned analysis found that ramping up to Shelter's target of 90,000 social rent homes a year could keep half a million children out of poverty in the long-term.

Keir Starmer backs end of two child benefit cap and tells Treasury to find the money - my story for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

On Friday afternoon, the Govt published the evidence pack for its Pathways to Work Green Paper. It confirms that the Govt's PIP cut will hit older people hardest, despite all the rhetoric about focusing on 'snowflake' young people. A quick thread...

🚨 NEW: ahead of today's debate on the changes to disability benefits, we've been digging into the claim that the rise in claims is disproportionate to the level of need. Here’s what @pollardtom.bsky.social and I found 👇 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Please read and share this thread, and the accompanying new analysis from @changingrealities.bsky.social which comes on the day we learned a record 4.5 million children experienced poverty last year.

Poverty stats for 23/24 show child poverty up from 4.3m to 4.5m, highest number ever by far (30% > 31%). Almost a million more children now living in poverty compared to early 2010s. This is indefensible. After yesterday, even more vital the Child Poverty Strategy delivers for families.

DWP is using a sleight of hand in its disability benefit cuts impact assessment: Actual increase in poverty is closer to 400,000, not the 250,000 in the impact assessment. Quick thread explaining why. 🧵1/7

DWP impact assessment: "An additional 250,000 people (including 50,000 children) in relative poverty after housing costs in financial year ending (FYE) 2030 as a result of the modelled changes to social security, compared to baseline projections." assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67e3fa...

How is DWP defining "an appropriately skilled person"? This can't work without a major rethink of the current generalist work coach model, which simply doesn't work for many ill and disabled claimants. Proper, specialist provision is key here. Temptation will be to do it on the cheap ('redeploy')

One for the OSR tbh! (assuming they survive the bonfire).

Looking ahead to the disability benefits green paper, this essay for @citizensadvice.bsky.social makes the case for a system focused on improving health outcomes. Co-authors @maddyirose.bsky.social, @victoria-anns.bsky.social & Simon Collerton We challenge the 5 big falsehoods underpinning cuts…🧵

New blog from us highlighting how incapacity benefit households in Universal Credit include c.900,000 children. Planned cuts to health-related benefits will inevitably impact children, and poses a major risk to the government's child poverty ambitions www.actionforchildren.org.uk/blog/childre...

How should policy makers go about reforming incapacity and disability benefits? New @resfoundation.bsky.social briefing sets out five key principles... www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...

Important corrective to the 'welfare spending is out of control' narrative

NEW: "There is no set of measures the DWP can cook up that will achieve the savings the Treasury is demanding, on the timescale it is demanding them, without blanket-bombing disabled people." My deep dive on what the DWP isn't trumpeting about its latest research: www.bigissue.com/news/employm...

The majority of parents in poverty who remain out-of-work face significant barriers to work. This includes having a child under 5, having a disabled adult or child in the family or having three or more children.

It's difficult to engage in good faith in a discussion about 'compromise' proposals that dignify the phoney premise that we simply can't afford to scrap the two-child limit & benefit cap. £3.5bn would be incredible value for the poverty alleviation (& knock-on economic benefits) it would achieve

How much would this really save in the near term given that policy only applies to children born from April 2017 (so max ~8yrs) & 60% households in work. Would also negate the (unpleasant) family planning aspect that was core rationale for it. What would Labour's new policy justification be?

New blog from us highlighting how incapacity benefit households in Universal Credit include c.900,000 children. Planned cuts to health-related benefits will inevitably impact children, and poses a major risk to the government's child poverty ambitions www.actionforchildren.org.uk/blog/childre...

Labour must seize the moment to show child poverty matters in push for growth www.theguardian.com/business/202... Great summary of the choices and challenges facing Labour, by @guardianheather.bsky.social

DWP has just published new research with incapacity & disability benefit claimants, likely to form part of the evidence pack in the forthcoming Green Paper: www.gov.uk/government/p... These findings strongly echo much of what we found in our own research with parent incapacity claimants last Oct:

Workers’ rights are only rights if they’re enforced—& Britain’s been hopeless at that Will the new Fair Work Agency put things right? Me & @hannahslaughter.bsky.social investigate in new @resfoundation.bsky.social blog www.resolutionfoundation.org/comment/enfo...