Changing Realities: Submission to All Party Parliamentary Group(s) on migration and poverty

This submission comprises Changing Realities’ response to the call for evidence on the impact of recent immigration and asylum rule changes on poverty from the APPG on Migration and on Poverty and Inequality. In the paper, we conclude:

• All families residing in the UK should be able to live in dignity. The current system is not working; it is preventing families and children from thriving. There must be a renewed focus on genuine equality and adequate support to meet families’ needs and to prevent growing child poverty.
• No child should be growing up under the poverty line.
• The government should avoid divisive rhetoric and policies that further marginalise communities.
• The government should consult and engage with the parents, carers and children who are directly impacted by the proposed reforms.
• Given the depth of poverty already experienced by countless migrant families and those navigating the asylum system, and the further damage that these reforms would likely lead to, the proposals must be reconsidered.
• Our data counters the wider narratives around division, with participants sharing sentiments of solidarity and empathy rather than division and fragmentation. This further underscores the importance of participatory research, and bringing diverse communities of lived experience together.