Benefit cuts since 2010 increased UK child poverty in run-up to pandemic, says IFS

Woman with child in pushchair walking past shuttered up shops closed down in Barnsley town centre. Photograph: Simon Dack/Alamy

Benefit cuts imposed by the Conservatives since 2010 pushed up child poverty before the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report warning that poorer families are also among the most exposed to the cost of living crisis.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said relative child poverty rose to the highest level since 2007 immediately before Covid-19 hit, as the incomes of poorer families with children fell further behind due to austerity.