Low wages under Tories have pushed 900,000 UK children into poverty, report finds

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said on Monday that 30% of children now lived in households below the official poverty line. Photograph: lovethephoto/Alamy

The crisis of poverty that has taken root in the UK over the past 14 years has been laid bare in two reports that reveal the devastating effects that low wages and price increases have had on the lives of 900,000 children.

With both main parties proposing tough welfare spending plans, reports have highlighted the link between rising child poverty and slow wage growth under five Conservative governments since 2010 – the slowest growth since the second world war.