Thousands of children in poverty across Wales to be helped by UK Government’s historic Child Poverty Strategy

• New strategy to lift 550,000 UK children out of poverty by 2030 – delivering the largest expected reduction in child poverty since records began
• Measures targeted at working families to stop children growing up in B&Bs, expanding childcare for families on UC and saving parents up to £500 on baby formula
• Families in Wales struggling with the cost of living to benefit from wider support announced at budget including £150 off energy bills, increasing the living wage by £900 a year and removing the two-child limit
• Part of the UK Government's plan to deliver more security, opportunity and respect for every family across the UK

Thousands of children living in poverty across Wales to be helped as the UK Government launches its Child Poverty Strategy today (Friday 5 December).

Prime Minister Keir Starmer will launch the strategy at a children's centre in South Wales with the First Minister Eluned Morgan to meet families and children who are set to benefit from the interventions contained in the strategy.

There are 200,000 children in poverty in Wales and the Child Poverty Strategy tackles the root causes of poverty by cutting essential costs, boosting family incomes.

The scrapping of the two-child Universal Credit limit will benefit 69,000 children in Wales while other measures announced to tackle child poverty will see 320,000 families in Wales benefit from the first-ever sustained real terms increase in the Universal Credit Standard Allowance, £150 off energy bills for families and up to 160,000 people in Wales benefitting from National Minimum and Living Wage increases.

The UK Government will also support families with the cost of essentials by helping families to buy more affordable infant formula.. The cost of some infant formula brands has risen by 25% in two years, putting pressure on families who cannot or choose not to breastfeed. The government will set clear rules for retailers to allow families to use loyalty points, vouchers, and gift cards to purchase formula - saving parents up to £540 in a baby's first year and remove unnecessary barriers for low-income families.

The measures being announced by the UK Government will lift 550,000 UK children out of relative low income by the end of this Parliament, with 7.1 million children seeing household incomes rise, including 1.4 million in deep material poverty – the largest expected reduction in UK child poverty by any Government in a single Parliament.

In Wales, many of the measures to alleviate child poverty are devolved. That is why at the Budget the UK Government announced an extra £505 million for the Welsh Government - on top of the record £22.4 billion settlement announced earlier in the year at the Spending Review. The Welsh Government was also given additional spending powers of £425 million at the Budget allowing them to invest further in vital public services.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

Every child deserves the best possible start in life, with their future no longer determined by the circumstances of their birth. Yet too many children are growing up in poverty, held back from getting on in life, and too many families are struggling without the basics: a secure home, warm meals, and the support they need to make ends meet.

I will not stand by and watch that happen, because the cost of doing nothing is too high for children, for families, and for Britain.

This is a moral mission for me. It's about fairness, opportunity, and unlocking potential. Our strategy isn't just about reversing the failures of the past, it sets a new course for national renewal, with children's life chances at its heart.

First Minister of Wales Eluned Morgan said:

I will never stop fighting to end child poverty and to give every child in Wales the best possible start in life. Welsh Government policies are making a real difference to people who most need our help; from expanding free Flying Start childcare across Wales, providing £200 towards school uniforms costs, ensuring every primary school pupil has a free, nutritious meal in school each day, to helping nearly 55,000 young people into education, training or work.

While the Welsh Government is using every tool available to us in Wales, it's vital our two governments work together to make real, lasting change.  That's why our two Governments are working together to do all we can to create opportunities for every community.

Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens said: 

Tackling child poverty is not just the right thing to do, it's an investment in Wales's future.

There is a direct link between child poverty and poor educational outcomes and future unemployment – we cannot afford to waste a generation's potential. 

This government has already announced measures that will lift thousands of children across Wales out of poverty and, working alongside Welsh Government, our new strategy will ensure that even more are given the opportunity to succeed.” 

Shortly after the 2025 General Election, the Prime Minister set up the Child Poverty Taskforce to bring together government and experts to explore how government could use all its available levers to drive down child poverty. This strategy is the first step on our road to ending child poverty and delivers on the commitment to reduce child poverty this parliament.

It comes as child poverty levels in the UK has reached a historic high. Today, 4.5 million children (200,000 in Wales) —around 31%—are living in relative poverty after housing costs - 900,000 more since 2010/11. Around 2.6 million children (100,000 in Wales) are growing up in households without enough food, and last year 1.1 million (less than 50,000 in Wales) relied on food banks.

Children growing up in poverty are four times as likely to suffer mental health problems, less likely to achieve good GCSE results or do well at school, more likely to have poorer health and go on to earn less than their peers. Acting now will cost significantly less than the long-term consequences of poverty. Tackling child poverty is not just a moral imperative – it is an investment in Britain's future.

That's why the government is reversing the two-child limit in Universal Credit – a failed policy experiment that punished children and been one of the biggest drivers of hardship since its introduction in 2017.

Around 300,000 children are in poverty directly because of this policy, equivalent to 100 children pushed into hardship every day. Without intervention, 150,000 more would have fallen into poverty by 2030. The majority of families who will gain from the removal of the limit are in work.

Removing the two-child limit is the most cost-effective way to drive down child poverty rates - lifting 450,000 children out of poverty in the final year of this Parliament, rising to 550,000 alongside other measures such as the expansion of free school meals, help with energy bills and the government's childcare offer.