A group of 28 charity leaders are urging Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng is to ensure benefits are uprated in line with inflation.
Ensuring benefits keep pace with the cost of living was a pledge made by previous PM Boris Johnson, however Kwarteng has yet to make the same commitment.
In a joint letter to Kwarteng they say they are “gravely concerned about the impact it will have on children if families face a real-terms cut to social security”.
They remind the Chancellor that already in the UK 3.9m children are growing up in poverty and warn him that further 200,000 children will be plunged into poverty unless benefits increase.
“Please do the right thing and protect children during this crisis,” states their letter to the Chancellor.
“Benefits must rise in line with inflation, or we will leave our next generation with less than we had.”
Charity chief executives to sign the letter include The Children’s Society’s Mark Russell, Save the Children UK’s Gwen Hines, Peter Wanless of the NSPCC and Barnardo’s Lynn Perry.
Our joint letter to the chancellor @KwasiKwarteng… 🧵 pic.twitter.com/yJZxQ5Bzxw
— Children's Society (@childrensociety) October 12, 2022
They warn that nine in ten parents in debt already cutting back on necessities for their children.
“Going without these essentials impacts children’s physical, mental and educational development, staying with them for the rest of their lives,” states their letter.
Their letter adds that child poverty already costs the UK economy £38bn a year through reduced revenues and increasing need for support services.
“As a society we are rightly committed to reducing child poverty,” they add.
“It’s the right thing to do morally and it is good for government finances”.
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