38 faith leaders urge UK government to act now on child poverty

Dr Nicola Brady, General Secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), is among 38 faith leaders who have written to the Prime Minister and Chancellor urging them to “act now to secure the futures of millions of children.”

The letter, which has been signed by senior leaders from the five major faith groups represented in the UK, addresses Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, saying, “As Parliament returns from recess and children return to school, we urge you to seize this moment to take decisive action to drive down child poverty.”

Signatories include The Rt Revd Martin Snow, Lord Bishop of Leicester, Revd Richard Andrew, President of the Methodist Conference, Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism, Zia Salik, Director of Islamic Relief, and Lord Singh of Wimbledon.

The letter goes on to read, “Your upcoming strategy on child poverty, alongside the Budget this autumn, is an opportunity to invest in our children, both for now and for the future. However, this requires commitments that match the scale of the challenge. ”

“It is hard to conceive of an effective Child Poverty Strategy that does not act on the restrictive benefit cap and end the two-child limit. Faith groups have challenged the limit on moral grounds, rejecting the state’s abandonment of third and later children, and the poverty this inevitably causes. As many charities and think tanks have now shown, ending the two-child limit is also the most cost-effective way to address child poverty. We believe this must be a priority for your government. ”

“Across our different faiths we share a commitment to human dignity. Poverty tears away at that dignity, robbing people of the opportunity to live a full life that reflects their inherent value. It is simply wrong that millions of children are born into families that struggle to cover even the essentials.”

Other senior signatories to the letter include former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams, Bishop John Arnold, Catholic Bishop of Salford and Imam Dr Sayed Razawi OBE, Director General, Scottish
Ahlul Bayt Society.

The letter acknowledges a recent proposal from IPPR, supported by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, to raise £3.2 billion in gambling levies to pay for the two-child limit and benefit cap to be scrapped. It calls on the government to be “ambitious and creative” in finding additional investment to tackle child poverty.

Many churches and community groups are involved in supporting families affected by the two- child limit. On Friday 29 August, the Archbishop of York visited The Junction Multibank in Middlesbrough, where he met local leaders and parents affected by child poverty, who spoke of the impact of child poverty in the region.

With the government’s child poverty strategy due to be published this autumn, the faith leaders reaffirmed their commitment to take action to tackle child poverty, saying “As we call on your government to take ambitious and properly funded action, we reaffirm our commitment to work alongside you and do all we can to tackle poverty in the communities we serve.”

Read the letter

Read the letter on the Joint Public Issue’s Team (JPIT) website.

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Revd Richard Andrew, President of the Methodist Conference, is a signatory to the letter. He said:

“It’s simply wrong that so many children are growing up without the essentials of life. This is a cry for change, rooted in our belief that change is possible. Rising levels of child poverty are not
inevitable. The government’s pledge to lift children out of poverty during this parliament is welcome, but now it needs to be backed up with real commitments, including scrapping the two-child limit on benefits.”

The Rt Revd Martyn Snow, Bishop of Leicester and the Church of England’s lead bishop for welfare, said:

“Along with other faith leaders, I am deeply troubled by the scale of child poverty taking hold in our country. I warmly welcome the Government’s first steps to address this crisis through breakfast clubs, the expansion of early years provision, and now the extension of the Holiday Activities and Food programme. In that same spirit, I encourage the Prime Minister and Chancellor to build on those measures with an ambitious strategy this autumn. Ending the unfair two-child limit and benefit cap are necessary steps as we strive to fulfil our moral
obligation to the next generation.”

Bishop John Arnold, Bishop of Salford, said:
“Too often I hear of families in our parishes and schools who are going without the daily essentials of food, decent housing and warmth. Far too many children are not only missing out on these basics, but also on the opportunities that allow them to develop and thrive, simply because their families are trapped in poverty. This robs them of the dignity that our faith insists is the right of every person. That is why I support the letter to the Prime Minister and why I urge him and the Government to take the decisive action needed so that every child can grow up with hope, opportunity and the chance to flourish.”

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed his support for this intervention from faith leaders. He said:
“Faith groups have a vital role to play in solving the endemic problem of child poverty. Their voices add to a growing chorus calling for the implementation of the government’s child poverty review, that should start with ending the two-child rule and taxing gambling to pay for the change.”