One of the greatest achievements of the Labour governments in office from 1997 to 2010 was to significantly reduce levels of poverty in Britain. Over the course of 13 years, a combination of measures took 2.5 million children and 7 million adults out of absolute poverty. These were stellar, transformative figures. But that was then.
Were existing benefit policies to be maintained during the current parliament, according to a projection published by the Resolution Foundation thinktank last week, the number of those in absolute poverty could stay constant at 18% of the total population. Relative poverty could soar. The dismal triple lock of the two-child benefit cap, the overall benefit cap and freezes to housing benefit is trapping the poorest people in our society in a cycle of despair.
