Polling shows the public expects Labour to tackle poverty, but 60% say they’re going the wrong direction on the cost of living and hardship. Labour’s Deputy Leadership candidates are right to make child poverty central to their campaigns.

Estimated 7m households not claiming benefits they are entitled to. Missing out on support makes the cost of living crisis even harder to cope with. Deven is right: low awareness, high complexity and stigma all part of the explanation. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Govt dropped cuts to PIP, but today's Committee report highlights MPs' concerns that many disabled people will be pushed into poverty by remaining cuts to Universal Credit's health element. In evidence to the inquiry I warned of the hardship this will cause. 1/5 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The Prime Minister told senior MPs today he wants to reduce child poverty this parliament The most cost effective way to do that is to end the two child limit and take action on the benefit cap - actions that also target help to families in deep poverty. Read more ⬇️ www.jrf.org.uk/child-povert...

New from DWP: 📣Over 1.6m children impacted by the 2 child limit in Apr 2025 This policy that leaves families with 3+ children struggling when they hit hard times. It is driving up child poverty, leaving families going without essentials and hindering children's prospects

Around 50,000 people will be pushed into poverty by the Government's cuts to Universal Credit for sick and disabled people. Following publication of the Green Paper @jrf-uk.bsky.social highlighted the sleight of hand in the poverty impact analysis. The same applies to the latest version ⬇️

Important corrective - even in their much altered form, the Government's disability cuts still increase poverty.

The voices and priorities of children growing up in low incomes are such an important and missing part of the debate about the child poverty strategy. A powerful contribution from the Children’s Commissioner today.

Today MPs will vote on the amended welfare bill. MPs who choose to walk through the lobby and support this bill are paving the way for at least 150,000 people to be pulled into poverty. Here are just 3 reasons why they should oppose this bill from @katieschmuecker.bsky.social 🔽

Government pressing ahead with 4-point PIP eligibility rule for new claimants ahead of Timms Review. Despite Timms Review having "assessment criteria – including activities, descriptors and associated points" in scope. This makes no sense www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Government data shows post-concessions disability benefit cuts will push 150,000 more people into poverty in 2029/30 And this is just the people that become disabled between 2026 and the end of the parliament-it will keep rising as the new system replaces the old www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Proposed changes to the disability benefit cuts are a substantial improvement for people already claiming disability benefits. But we remain very concerned about what the system looks like for people who get sick or become disabled when the system changes next year.

On Tuesday Parliament will vote on whether to cut health and disability benefits. This is a vital opportunity for this government to rethink these harmful cuts. Want to get your head around what the cuts would mean? Look no further 🧵 1/

📍The geography of disability benefit cuts & jobs Some of the places with the highest rates of claims have fewest vacancies to go round. Cuts will make sick and disabled people poorer. From @data.ft.com www.ft.com/content/51d2...

Ahead of a crucial vote on cuts to disability benefits, our new evidence casts doubt on whether jobs are even available for disabled people facing cuts 📢 The analysis found that the parts of the country among the hardest hit by the cuts have fewer job opportunities 1/3

Number of senior politicians openly calling for a rethink on disability benefit cuts continues to grow...

The Govt has not published an employment impact assessment for their disability benefit cuts & increased employment support 📣New @jrf-uk.bsky.social analysis shows where you live matters, with competition for jobs higher in some areas with higher claims: former industrial & coastal areas 1/5

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Yesterday the government published their welfare reform bill. These cuts could pull up to 400,000 more people into poverty ✂️ New JRF figures show that nearly 8 in 10 low-income working-age families in receipt of disability benefits went without essentials in May 2025. 1/2

The Bill, as it stands, does not protect people from hardship but drives them into it. Flows into jobs will be 3-5% of the number seeing deep benefit cuts. So many unanswered questions remain - MPs should not pass this Bill without a full understanding of what they’re voting for. Read more ⬇️

Today the bill introducing disability cuts is expected to get its first reading in parliament. If passed it will cut the income of around 3m sick and disabled people, deepening hardship. Some families stand to lose up to £12,000 per year.

We hear a lot about the two child limit, but less about its ugly sister: the benefit cap- another policy breaking the link between needs & income, driving hardship New data shows families hit by the cap rose to 115,000 in Feb 2025, 96,000 of whom had kids.

Can you call it a concession if it was in the original green paper? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Renewal must be felt in people’s everyday lives, says the chancellor- so true. A few reflections on today’s announcements… 1/4 🏡Substantial increase in spending on affordable housing very welcome- housing costs are a major driver of poverty and insecurity

Earlier today, we heard the Chancellor @RachelReevesMP set out details of the government's multi-year spending review. She said it would 'ensure that renewal is felt in people's everyday lives'. 🔽 1/5

Disability benefit cuts likely to create more deep poverty and hardship than even the bleak forecast from the Government’s own limited assessments Really important work from @trusselluk.bsky.social & WPI Economics finds c440,000 people will be pushed into hunger and hardship as a result

New analysis from @trusselluk.bsky.social shows impact of the government's massive cuts to disability support is even worse than previously thought: *440,000* people in disabled households forced into severe poverty and left at risk of needing a food bank. 1/4 www.trussell.org.uk/news-and-res...

Extending free school meals to all children whose families claim universal credit is welcome and will relieve some pressure on family budgets. Next step must be an ambitious child poverty strategy with measures to boost incomes so no child is hindered by hunger or hardship.

"If this government were to go out and make the case, I think they would win the argument with the public, and they perhaps ought to have more bravery" @luketryl.bsky.social on public opinion & the two child limit- people want child poverty to fall 📺 30 mins in www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Vital reading: What families in poverty think needs to be in the Government's child poverty strategy ⤵️

240,000 children are in poverty in Scotland. Every one of them is a reason for all political parties to deliver a better Scotland. 📝 We have published a toolkit to ensure that each party's manifestos is up to the task of meeting the child poverty reduction targets: www.jrf.org.uk/child-povert....

Join us at Leeds Central Library on Mon 9 June 2025, 10:00–11:30 for a special #CarersWeek2025 event. Lindsey Burrow talks about her memoir Take Care with @clairet1975.bsky.social , a moving story of love, resilience & caring for her husband, rugby legend Rob Burrow. 🎟 Tickets → buff.ly/NFaB4Ia

6 in 10 households hit by the two child limit are working families. TBH I’d expect an MP keen to comment to know that. Rising child poverty is the “retrograde step”. Removing the two child limit helps children get a good start in life. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

6 in 10 households hit by the two child limit are working families. TBH I’d expect an MP keen to comment to know that. Rising child poverty is the “retrograde step”. Removing the two child limit helps children get a good start in life. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

ICYMI ⬇️

This is on to something where it talks about people opposing removing the two child limit in “superficial polls” As @luketryl.bsky.social sets out here- there’s a difference between 3 second, 30 second & 3 minute reactions, and narratives really matter. bsky.app/profile/luke...

Really good thread from @luketryl.bsky.social on the political case for removing the two child limit ⬇️

📣new @jrf-uk.bsky.social analysis shows 3.6million children in below-average income families are going without at least 1 of: enough food, a warm home or keeping up with bills. This shocking fact speaks to the real lives at stake as briefings abound about the child poverty strategy

The government says its cuts to disability benefits are part of a “moral mission” to get more people working. But analysis shows fewer than 100,00 are expected to start work by the end of the parliament. Meanwhile around 3m will have disability & health related benefits cut. 1/4

Really interesting from @luketryl.bsky.social on whether Govt’s welfare policies are becoming its Achilles heel, because they run counter to voter concern about the cost of living and hardship & their expectations of a Labour government.

My reaction on behalf of @jrf-uk.bsky.social, on today's labour market statistics and the Government's plans to cut disability benefits. The threat of widespread hardship among disabled people, unable to replace the incomes they lose out on through work, is even starker.

Freedom of Information request reveals disability benefit cuts will push 700,000 families already in poverty into even deeper poverty. These cuts will see more people going without essentials, pushing those who can work further from the jobs market. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Voters bracketing PIP cuts with winter fuel payment cuts. People think tackling the cost of living and hardship should be the top priority for government but cutting support for disabled people will deepen hardship.

Debt deductions to Universal Credit drive hardship, making an inadequate rate even lower A new 'Fair Repayment Rate' is introduced today, limiting deductions to 15% of the basic rate. 1.2m low income families will benefit A good thing & importantly a foundation to build on...

9.3m people- including 3m children- experiencing hunger and hardship. This comes with high costs. 🔴To individuals struggling without life's essential 🔴To schools, social care & hospitals facing additional demand for services 🔴To the economy from lower employment & weaker productivity

New @moreincommonuk.bsky.social polling for @jrf-uk.bsky.social finds benefit cuts risk putting the Government on the wrong side of public opinion. 60% of the public now think the Government is going in the wrong direction, including 41% of those who backed Labour in July.

ICYMI ⬇️

Where will the cuts to sickness & disability benefits hit hardest? New @jrf-uk.bsky.social constituency analysis shows the % of working age people receiving these benefits in England & Wales. Some MP inboxes are likely to be brimming, as concern about these plans is widespread

Our complaint re the growth in health benefits has been upheld: osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/corresponden...: "The statement that the number of people claiming disability elements of Universal Credit has increased by 383% presents an entirely misleading picture to the public."