Overview

• The report describes mouldy food, rats biting through walls and widespread black mould in children’s homes based on interviews held between January and March 2025
• Latest official data show a record 4.45 million children in the UK lived in poverty in the year to March 2024
• Dame Rachel de Souza argues that scrapping the two-child cap is essential, noting it pushes 109 children into poverty every day
• She calls for a “triple-lock” to uprate all child-related benefits in line with inflation as a core element of any poverty strategy
• The government has unveiled a £1 billion crisis support package and pledged a full child poverty strategy due this autumn