Bridget Phillipson, No 10’s preferred candidate for deputy leader, recently called the two-child benefit cap “spiteful”. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, labelled it “abhorrent. Teaching unions wrote a letter last week condemning it as “cruel”. At last, it appears that the days of this malign Conservative policy are numbered, with rising expectations that the strict two-child rule will be relaxed in this autumn’s budget, when the delayed child poverty strategy is also due.
The harms of rising child poverty stretch far beyond its immediate effects on children growing up in deprivation. Labour ministers know this. Improving the life chances of children from less privileged backgrounds has always been a core aim of social democratic politics. Growing up without enough food, space or opportunities, including education, causes lasting damage and holds back communities as well as individuals.
