Labour governments root out child poverty, support working families and invests in the future.
The two child benefit cap was wrong when the Tories brought it in and its reversal should be a priority for this Labour government.
Nationally 1.6m children are impacted, and more and more are being driven into poverty as a result. Of those a million are in working families. For Oldham 11,340 children in 3,160 households are currently affected by the two-child benefit limit, that’s around 1 in 5 children.
It also makes financial and economic sense. Lower income households, unsurprisingly, do not hoard money; they spend it on essentials like shopping which goes straight back into the local economy. And with an aging population needing social care, pensions and good public services in older age, it will require working age people driving the economy and paying into the tax system in generations which follow. So, the country needs to do more to support families to afford and raise children.
And more, it’s what Labour government do; we’ve reduced child poverty before and we must set about doing it again. This is one of the quickest and most impactful ways of achieving it.
There are much bigger questions the government must answer about the structure of the British economy which relies far too much on low pay and insecure work, meaning so many decent people are doing everything asked of them, but still struggling to make ends meet.
I’m pleased this is gaining ground in the deputy leadership contest and hope progress is made soon.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 