Overhaul UK benefits to tackle child poverty, charities urge

The report found young people from the poorest families were four times more likely to have mental health problems than the most affluent. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

Ministers have been urged to reform the benefits system to tackle child poverty, after a report found it to be a major cause of mental illness that “casts a shadow” over young people’s wellbeing.

The report, by the Centre for Mental Health, Save the Children UK and the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, found that the number of children living in poverty in the UK had increased to 4.3 million, while one in five children and young people aged between eight and 24 had a diagnosable mental health problem.