Parents typically need to find at least £39 per week for a child’s secondary school education and £19 for a primary-aged child, research for Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) finds.
School governors, head teachers, PTAs and others working in schools have written to the Chancellor urging him to increase child benefit and expand free school meals eligibility to reduce the impact of poverty and hardship on children and on schools. The open letter says schools increasingly see children finding it harder to learn because of inadequate family incomes.
Our submission highlights that children who already faced a higher risk of poverty have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and will be particularly vulnerable during economic recession. Rising child poverty places high costs on society as a whole. It should therefore be of the utmost priority that families with children are able to easily access adequate financial support.