Téa Jaffe never thought she would have to use the help of a baby bank. Moreover, she herself referred other single parents from her local community group to the charity Little Village, which provides essential items to new parents who otherwise couldn’t afford them—from strollers and cribs to clothes, diapers, toys, and books. However, when Jaffe, who lives in London, suddenly became pregnant with her second child, she couldn’t afford to buy everything necessary. “It’s hard to face the necessity of providing for a child with absolutely no budget,” she shared with CNN. “I was already experiencing financial difficulties… but I didn’t imagine how much worse things would get… I work full-time now, and I don’t have enough money to pay the bills.” The Little Village distribution point in Wembley, North London, is full of items that young parents might need. The Little Village distribution point in Wembley, North London, is full of items that young parents might need. Issy Ronald/CNN Child poverty in the UK has reached record highs amid the country’s soaring cost of living and a weakened social safety net following years of government austerity. As public services have significantly diminished, charities like Little Village are stepping in to help. This issue came into sharp focus this week as campaign groups urge the UK Labour government to make reducing child poverty a priority in its annual budget, which will be presented on Wednesday. About a third of UK children—approximately 4.5 million—now live in relative poverty, often defined as residing in a household with an income below 60% of the median national income after housing costs, as shown in a government report released in April. One million of these children are in severe destitution, their basic needs for warmth, dryness, clothing, and food unmet, according to a 2023 study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which researches poverty and develops policies to eliminate it. “We came across one family surviving on only cornflakes and rice,” Sophie Livingstone, Executive Director of Little Village, told CNN. “We have many families living in one room, with a lot of mold, with very poor housing quality, even when people do have somewhere to live,” she added. “Survival Mode” Even for families managing to provide the basics for their children, life is a monthly struggle devoid of any financial stability. “You live constantly in fear, and that’s not the nicest place to be when you have children depending on you,” Leah, a single mother of seven-year-old twin girls, told CNN after being reached through the Changing Realities Project, which documents low-income parents. She asked to use a pseudonym to maintain her family’s privacy. “They want to do everything their peers do… but the budget doesn’t allow it,” she said. After paying for necessities each month, she has nothing left over. “Every time I go out anywhere, I have to meticulously and conscientiously watch that I don’t overspend. It’s a very anxious situation.” Leah, a law graduate living in Hampshire in southeast England, initially returned to work but says she was frequently pulled out of meetings by nursery staff if one of her daughters, who has special needs, dyspraxia, and global developmental delay, had a “tantrum or meltdown.” She eventually had to quit. “I go into survival mode,” she said. “I grew up in the foster care system and remember having so much difficulty and anxiety thinking, ‘If I just get through this, things will get better.’ However, the situation never changed; despite knowing I can offer a lot and try to be a good member of society, I still feel that wherever I go, hardship awaits me.” And even for families whose income is significantly above the poverty line, housing and childcare costs, especially in London, can be so high that there is simply no money left for anything else. About 70% of children living in poverty have at least one working parent. Téa Jaffe with her youngest of three children at the Little Village distribution point. Téa Jaffe with her youngest of three children at the Little Village distribution point. Little Village The cost of childcare in the UK is higher than in most other developed nations—it accounts for about 25% of the net income of a two-parent family and about 60% of a single parent’s net income, according to data published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank in 2022. Jaffe, a mother utilizing the baby bank, works full-time in client solutions and says her income is £45,000 ($59,000) a year to support herself and her three children—which is significantly above the UK average. Nevertheless, she claims she “fights every month to get everything paid without being able to save anything or do anything for her children.” After paying for essentials—rent, childcare, food, and utility bills—she is left with £192 (about $250) per month for unforeseen expenses and saving for next month in case of an error in the next benefit payment—which she says happens regularly. “No Resilience Left” While child poverty has always existed in the UK, its rate is rising—and much faster than in other developed nations. Between 2012 and 2021, it increased by almost 20%, according to UNICEF. Now, in 2025, the child poverty rate in the UK is higher than in any European Union country except Greece, according to the Resolution Foundation, a living standards think tank. The organization estimated that another 300,000 children will fall into destitution by 2030 if nothing changes. The current poverty rate also reflects the inequalities present elsewhere in society. Almost half of children from Black and Asian communities live in poverty, compared to 24% of white children, while children from single-parent families or families where someone has a disability are also more likely to live in poverty, data from the child rights organization Child Poverty Action Group shows. Partially, this rise is linked to the same economic conditions affecting other parts of the Western world—sluggish growth and the fact that work no longer provides the former financial security, as well as persistent inflation that disproportionately affects essential goods and thus low-income individuals. Renata Accioli (center), manager of the Little Village distribution point in Wembley, with colleagues Sharna Singh (left) and Yosra Bahr (right). Renata Accioli (center), manager of the Little Village distribution point in Wembley, with colleagues Sharna Singh (left) and Yosra Bahr (right). Issy Ronald/CNN However, academics and activists argue that political decisions also played a role. UK public services were cut by the center-right coalition and subsequent Conservative governments in power from 2010 to 2024. As part of its austerity program aimed at cutting public spending after the 2008 financial crisis, the Conservatives introduced three measures that are “largely responsible for the current rise in child poverty,” stated Jonathan Bradshaw, a retired Professor of Social Policy at the University of York who also served as a scientific advisor on the government’s upcoming strategy to combat child poverty. These measures limited the amount of benefits people were eligible to claim: one was a universal benefit cap limiting the total payout a household could receive, another limited housing benefits, and the third was the two-child limit, meaning parents cannot claim any benefit for a third or subsequent child born after 2017. Charities and academics argue that this two-child benefit cap is largely responsible for the rise in the UK’s child poverty rate. “A large part of the rise in child poverty has been among larger families,” Bradshaw told CNN. Former UK Chancellor George Osborne was one of the key architects of the austerity policy. Former UK Chancellor George Osborne was one of the key architects of the austerity policy. Darren Staples/Reuters This all illustrates “the inadequacy of the benefits system,” says Peter Matejic, senior analyst at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. “If you calculate what is needed for food, energy, all of this, and look at what [benefits] amount to… it is below that level,” he told CNN. When UN Special Rapporteurs Philip Alston and Olivier De Schutter visited the UK in 2018 and 2023, respectively, they both condemned the destitution they witnessed, although De Schutter noted that the country aligned with the broader picture of rising inequality seen in other wealthy nations. Political Dilemma A spokesperson for the current Labour government, in power since last July, told CNN that “every child, regardless of their background, deserves the best start in life.” “We are investing £500 million in early years development through the rollout of Best Start Family Hubs, expanding free school meals, and ensuring the least well-off don’t go hungry during holidays through a new £1 billion crisis support package.”
Eradicating child poverty is a declared priority for the centre-left government, and at the same time, it is the area that exposes internal contradictions within it. Since taking office, Labour has been trying to reconcile the mandate for change on which they won with their established focus on injecting funds into public services. However, this is hindered by an extremely limited budget and the pre-election pledge not to increase the tax burden on the working population. Its intentions to reduce child poverty have so far met with this difficulty. More detailed information on the government’s spending and taxation plans is expected to be presented on Wednesday, where Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, the UK’s finance minister, is expected to address the issue of limiting child benefits for two children—a policy the government has wavered on and returned to over the past year. However, for parents already on the brink of survival, their household budgets have been squeezed too tightly and for too long. “People have no room for manoeuvre left,” states Livingston, recalling that when she first started as the head of Little Village, “we talked about the welfare system having many holes.” “Frankly, I’m not sure any welfare system is left at all,” she adds.
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