Hope on the Horizon? The Child Poverty Strategy

Written on 23 October 2025

This morning, I was invited to a meeting in The House of Lords, along with Changing Realities, two other participants and members from other organisations. The roundtable – chaired by Baroness Ruth Lister and Professor Ruth Patrick – was also attended by other Lords, senior civil servants and Changing Realities funders. We discussed the government’s Child Poverty Strategy, which will hopefully be announced shortly after the budget in November.

For me the day could not have gone smoother, all of us from Changing Realities arrived in good time meeting in the main entrance hall with very little fuss getting through security apart from a small bottle of wine in my bag (meal deal ordeal...a story for another time)! 

The event was well attended, opening with introductions / opening remarks from the co-chairs. This was followed by an amazing, well-read and beautifully spoken Speech by Jo, who is a long-standing participant of Changing Realities and a voice that offers so much honest and open experience of living in poverty. This speech alone must have left all in the room with something to take away and examine in more detail, in the hope of ending the cycle of poverty that so many families and children face every year. 

During the open discussion that followed, many important thoughts and questions were shared, with almost all present joining in at some stage. There was a lot of talk around children with additional needs which is something that I feel still needs so much more attention and investment. Children with additional support needs require good, strong, reliable and ongoing support, along with investment from the government as the services they rely on for support are expensive. Moreover, there are so many hidden costs involved for the parents of these children, and so much more time and money needed to support their additional needs, such as technology or other equipment that often will help them to retain a bit of balance in their daily lives.

All of this has a direct impact on two of the Changing Realities participants that were present at the meeting, who spoke about how this contributes to the poverty they are currently facing. What’s more, there seems to be a focus on alleviating poverty for working families / people, and this is where I spoke out. I reminded those present that it is not only working people that urgently need support; rather, there are many people who are unable to work due to illness or disability. This does not mean that they have never been able to work and give back into society, but it could be due to accident, illness or any number of reasons that are beyond their control, and this could happen to anyone at any time in their lives. These groups must not be forgotten or marginalised when it comes to addressing poverty, especially where children are involved. 

Children are our future and will help this country thrive and grow, but to do this they must have the best possible start in life that they can have. Otherwise, the effects of poverty will continue generation after generation, this must not be allowed to happen. The future of this country and the future of this world is in the hands of our children.

So, could there be hope on the horizon? There were positive words from parliamentarians at the meeting. Of course, there were different points of view and opinion, but I did get the impression that the government is committed to bringing down the numbers of children living in poverty. When the Child Poverty Strategy is announced, we can hope for the possibility of a department being established to monitor the outcomes of the strategy and the affects it has on society. Hopefully this will keep child poverty on the agenda, continuing to find solutions to end poverty for good and ultimately stopping it from slowly slipping back into a situation similar to that which we are currently facing, where poverty is causing huge amounts of harm to people's mental and physical wellbeing. 

After this amazing and thought provoking event in The House of Lords was over, we had a short walk to the Resolution Foundation Offices, where they had kindly offered us a room to use for a debrief and lunch so we could unwind and chat about the meeting in comfort, without outside distractions. When I say comfort, it was more like luxury: a large light room with an oval table, beautiful chandeliers, an open fire, with walls adorned by two large paintings. There was a side table with tea, coffee, chocolate biscuits fresh fruit (grapes and blueberries) and sandwiches were supplied by Changing Realities. It has been a long time since I have been able to indulge in such items due to living in poverty. We all had an enjoyable lunch calmly talking about the morning and thoughts for the future. All of this without a concern around how much energy was being used by the lighting and fire, this was all far from the reality that I and millions of other families live on a daily basis while we are still forced to live a life in poverty with little money or support in order to have a meaningful life in a modern world.

I myself am hopeful that the government is going to take steps in November to help reduce child poverty immediately by announcing much needed changes like the two-child limit on Child Benefit and the end of the benefit cap. This is, however, far from the end point of poverty as a whole. The government must assure us that that poverty and its causes are kept on the agenda with a firm commitment to policy that will continue to help and support the poorest in society, who too often feel left out, forgotten and uncared for.