Be Serious About Child Poverty

Political satire is not hard to come by. A recent example of it, however, on the Green Party’s official Facebook Page, may have cheapened this already-common currency. 

It’s form was simple and standard enough as memes goes. An animated character is shown faced with a choice between two buttons, the look on their face betraying the difficulty they feel in deciding – the joke being that the choice is meant to be painfully obvious. 

The subject of the Green Party’s ire in this instance was Rachel Reeves and her approach to the cost of living crisis. The choices before her animated stand-in: ‘Tackling Child Poverty’ and ‘Give them Cheaper Theme Park Tickets’. The disparity is obvious and intent clear; make Government policy seem ridiculous. Accompanying the meme is a statement: ‘One in three children in the UK are living in poverty. Labour’s answer? Cheaper rollercoasters’.

The cause of this attack message is not hard to find. On the same day this meme was posted, the Government had announced that:

‘From 25 June to 1 September 2026, VAT will be slashed on eligible activities, to helping families enjoy the weekend treats, the days out, the small plans that make life enjoyable during the cost of living squeeze while supporting the businesses that depend on summer footfall.’

I don’t claim that this is an unnassailable policy, nor do I claim that more should not be done to address the causes of child poverty. But for me a Government stepping in to help families spend time together, and help businesses attract customers, is a clear societal good.

If the invocation of this meme is that more can be done to support those in need, then we may have much in common. Though a Labour Party member I am unafraid of calling for more to be done. I did it on library spaces in secondary schools, I did it on wider provision of Breakfast Clubs and Free School Meals, and I did it on transport capacity as an issue of equality. I often ask for more, but that doesn’t mean I am willing to let achievements go without acknowledgement.

Ending child poverty is the summit of Government and while there is still a long way to go, but markers of progress ought not to be occluded for the cultivation of political capital.

If the Green Party wish to imply that the Government doesn’t take the issue of child poverty seriously, or that nothing is being done to try and support those experiencing this blight, then they have erred to such a degree that can only be intentional.

This is a Government that lifted the two-child benefit cap, an action which Save the Children expects to move 450,000 children ‘over the poverty line by 2030’. Despite not being a universally popular policy, it was a significant step. One that should be remembered and will be remembered.

I am not a fool though, I know that if I were to place myself on any high ground here I would be met with a parade of horribles churning out evidence of all the work left to be done. But this is not a unifocal issue. Poverty doesn’t exist in and of itself, it lives with people, uncompromisingly, in every aspect of their lives. Policies that support children in poverty are not always there just for that one purpose. 

What of reduced NHS waiting lists? Does that not benefit those living in poverty? The rise in the Minimum Wage or the National Living Wage? What of the library spaces that have been guaranteed in every primary school in the country? What of the expansion of Free School Meals to every child whose household receives Universal Credit, a change that means ‘over half a million additional pupils will become eligible for Free School Meals’? What of the 10 million breakfasts that have been delivered in primary schools, free of charge, since the Labour Party entered into Government? What of the increased rights for renters and workers? 

Are these not the acts of a Government grasping challenges which, if tackled, can benefit a great many who are living in or growing up in poverty? If Jess Philips is right in her letter of resignation that some progress by this Government had to come from threats she made, then I am dismayed that it had to come to that. But again, I won’t ignore what has been done. I may find myself militating for more from Downing Street, but I am at least appreciative in doing so.

Image: Flickr/Keir Starmer

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