Family hubs like Honeyhill in Peterborough offer vital early years support – but they face an uphill battle against deepening poverty.

Our new analysis shows how many children could be lifted out of poverty by 2029/30 if the two-child limit on Universal Credit would be abolished: England: 626,022 children Scotland: 51,036 children Wales: 54,722 children NI: 9,791 children #EndChildPoverty

Excellent to see @juliaunwin.bsky.social named as the government’s preferred candidate for Charity Commission chair — thoughtful, experienced, and exactly what the sector needs. www.gov.uk/government/n...

e.g. “this mother has worked a part time job in order to be home when her kids get back from school. She is now divorced and her ex is consistently unreliable in paying his CSA or alimony” - that is not a problem that her employer can solve! Cash transfers are part of the answer here.

Scrapping the two-child limit in full is the most cost-effective way to reduce the number of children living in poverty, pound for pound. So when the chancellor is facing difficult decisions, it doesn’t make sense to implement a less efficient half-measure. www.lbc.co.uk/article/rach...

I can’t envisage a child poverty strategy which garners any credibility without fully scrapping the two-child limit. Unconvinced? Check out (even better share) this summary of the peer-reviewed evidence base @kittyjstewart.bsky.social @aaronreeves.bsky.social largerfamilies.study/publications...

A partial lifting of the two-child limit at the Autumn Budget would still leave child poverty rising and would risk creating levels of hardship not seen under a Labour government for more than half a century. It must be scrapped *in full*.

As things stand, child poverty is on track to reach record highs by 2029-30. By then, we predict that more than one-in-three British children (34 per cent) would be growing up in poverty. That's the highest rate of child poverty we'd have seen since 1961 ⤵️ buff.ly/qVc9CWs

New post out: "The worst social policy ever" Today we have a guest post from @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social on the abomination that is the two-child limit and why Labour need to scrap it ASAP. Lots of data but also powerful testimony. (Free to read) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

Let's argue about whether it's more effective to fight hunger and poverty or climate pollution once we have exhausted the many ways to fight both at once.

What you see is pretty striking. While there, it's dwarfed by punishment for failure on public realm, cost of living and - strikingly - child poverty. This is *especially true with Labour 2024 voters*. On the reward side, NHS again salient.

So good to see stories like this being told. These young people from west Belfast produced TikTok films to highlight issues of poverty in their community. We were to support them but they schooled us in how to produce video content! www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/norther...

How do we turn bureaucratic services and systems into something more human? A new long read 👇

Great article by @katieschmuecker.bsky.social We increased Universal Credit by £20/week during the Covid-19 pandemic, and if we'd kept that policy in place then UC could actually meet people's needs. Some policy problems are difficult, this isn't one of them.

Get your Expressions of Interest in for our Transforming Early Years in east Belfast opportunity: this fund offers £5,000 for projects aimed at children 0-5 years and their parents/caregivers. For more info: eastsideelc.org.uk/innovation-f... close November 11th, 4pm.

Representation can change a life in a single moment. Every person deserves to feel seen, celebrated, & included exactly as they are. This is why adverts show all of us - as a sign for all those who feel excluded that they're us, & a reminder for all those that exclude. #GoodMorning, everyone

The vast majority of people are one accident or serious health issue away from financial ruin. They judge those who need social assistance without realizing that it could easily be them needing assistance tomorrow. You are closer to being disabled or homeless than rich.

Labour Party deputy leadership election results Scrap the 2 child limit 100% Keep the 2 child limit 0%

❗ The two-child limit is pushing families to food banks. This policy is cruel. And it's time to end it. Email your MP to call on the Chancellor to end the two-child limit 👉 https://bit.ly/4ovyIAj

If you want some Tuesday morning inspiration, check out this profile of my brilliant colleague Rachael Cummings and the work of our teams in Gaza www.thecut.com/article/how-...

Our participant James has written an excellent piece for @scotsman.com. ✏️ "The fight for true social justice is long and arduous. But for that hour or so, in that grand room, we were not just the ‘marginalised’ or ‘the beneficiaries’, we were the experts." Read: www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Social norms are not self-enforcing. If people draw a bright red line and shun/shame those who cross it, that makes prejudice and intolerance unacceptable. If they don’t, it becomes acceptable. Sometimes it really is that simple.

Good on these two. That’s how you keep norms alive

It's out! My review of "Abundance", my review of "Breakneck" and the slogan "rent extraction is always what the other guy does" open.substack.com/pub/hypertex...

In one crisp para — & the 2 charts he highlights — @chrisgiles.ft.com bursts a huge number of “welfare” myths www.ft.com/content/ee67...

This is what we keep seeing- and keep saying- at Citizens Advice. Was in Durham today speaking to debt advisors and no one there thought the cost of living crisis had ended.

📢No more waiting on the 5 week wait, says my @citizensadvice.bsky.social colleague @julia-rt.bsky.social The 5 week wait for a first UC payment means families end up in debt to DWP -leading to deductions from future payments that cause real hardship This needs to change medium.com/citizens-adv...

The causes can be preventable but only with the genuine involvement of young people in designing the right 'why' and 'how' questions and coming up with the solutions. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Strongly support this idea from @mrjlauder.bsky.social. "Is spending money on a particular service better than a cash transfer" is a good way of learning how to improve services and reduce inequalities

Imagine being told you have 24 hours to pack your things into bin bags and leave everything behind. Imagine losing your teddy, your best friend, the one thing connecting you to your past.🧸 Has your local authority signed our #MyThingsMatter pledge for dignity in moving? Learn how you can help!👇🏻

“There is a whole workforce that is just hiding in plain sight. These people are already working with kids, they love kids, but their development is stymied, so this is about unleashing those people.” HUGE news. 👇 Will be transformational. schoolsweek.co.uk/trust-offers...

Children harmed by decision to redeploy health visitors, Covid inquiry hears - True—my grandson was born in August 2020. they had one virtual health visitor chat for quite young, neurodivergent first time parents.

Every minute of delay brings more misery in Gaza. But we now have a chance to deliver.   We call on all parties to agree to a ceasefire.   Give us the access. Let us work.

Sometimes you think 'oh it can't really be that bad can it' and then you click on the link and it turns out it is exactly that bad www.bbc.com/news/article...

Now in Yr 3 they all do exactly the same stuff British primary school children have always done - practicing the recorder, cutting up crepe paper with scissors, learning about the Egyptians for some reason, going on school trips to see the Cutty Sark. They're all becoming little Londoners. (3/end)

It's a great school! The need to support those children with limited English comes at zero cost to the education of others in the same class and, in fact, it works to their benefit because it gives all the kids exposure to children from different backgrounds. (2/)

OK so my younger son's primary has I think the highest rate of children with English as a second language in the borough (and one of the highest in the country). Biggest primary in the borough too (650 kids). There are quite a lot of kids who start reception with v little spoken English. (1/)

Policymaking - developing and agreeing policies, and then implementing them - is difficult, but plenty of people (increasingly) confuse it with "coming up with ideas for policies" which is, indeed, very easy. Same philosophy that says that announcing the thing is the same as doing the thing

Gloria Odhi, a participant of Changing Realities, shared her story with the Scottish first minister with the hope of inspiring change.

I wrote a short piece for the Observer on the attacks in Manchester. observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

Meanwhile @annelongfield.bsky.social tells Tes reporter @ktorm-social1.bsky.social that the DfE needs to make racial inclusion “a key thematic priority” because it “too often” falls off the education agenda. Exclusive:

As Yom Kippur ends, it is terrible that a holy day has seen people killed at a place of worship in Manchester I hope many of us will express solidarity + support for Jews in Britain, and work with them + those of every faith and none to deepen our efforts to tackle antisemitism, hatred + extremism

Really important from @resfoundation.bsky.social I have spent more hours of my life then I care to remember looking at different compromise options for the 2 child limit. The clear conclusion is scrap it in full, no ifs, not buts and no half measures.

Is there room for compromise on the two-child limit? Entirely scrapping it would have the biggest impact on child poverty and be most cost-effective.

If you have a Jewish friend, neighbour, colleague then send them a text rather than saying something on social media.

On National Poetry Day, the greatest poem I have ever read

Very encouraging to read that the Government is preparing to lift the two-child limit as part of its child poverty strategy, but it is disheartening that options short of scrapping it entirely are still being considered. Thread on why this would be the wrong choice for an ambitious strategy:

“Children’s rights were violated.” As Module 8 of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry opens today, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY) says the voices of children must finally be heard. (@nichildcom.bsky.social) Read more below.