On Tuesday, 21 October, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, the Catholic Education Service and the Caritas Social Action Network hosted a roundtable discussion in the House of Lords on child poverty.
Sponsored by Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick, the event brought together charities, agencies of the Catholic Church and educators advocating for the scrapping of the two-child cap on benefits and a comprehensive Child Poverty Strategy.
Introduced in 2017, the policy has been undermining the financial security of families with three or more children. Such families often have no choice but to make claims for Universal Credit as a result of common, but unpredictable, life events, such as job loss or the onset of disability. The majority of families affected by the two-child policy are working families.
The Bishops’ Conference has opposed the policy since it was introduced. During the campaign phase for the 2024 General Election, Cardinal Nichols asked, “How do we construct a society in which families can flourish?”, and recommended that lay Catholics ask their local candidates about this – including whether they would support the removal of the two-child cap. Since the 2024 General Election, the Bishops have continued to speak out against the cap and have encouraged Catholics to write to their MPs to express their opposition.
In her opening words, Baroness Ritchie described the cap as a “driver of poverty”.
The event focused on the children and families who are suffering most at the hands of this policy of exclusion which, according to Patrick O’Dowd, Director of Caritas Salford, is “trapping families in a cycle of depravation” and leaving children “no headspace for learning”.
Mairead Waugh, Headteacher of St Philip Howard Catholic Primary School, Hatfield, described how her school is addressing the critical issues which are arising as a result of the cap by “always focusing on the dignity of the human person”. They are bringing the curriculum to life for children who haven’t experienced what they’re reading and learning about; for example, building a sandpit at the school for children who have never experienced the beach or seen the sea.
Kate Nightingale, CEO of Saint Vincent de Paul Society, explained how their grassroots, local and community-focused approach is making a real difference to the lives of children and working families, which make up 76% of their food bank users. She emphasised that practical support must go hand in hand with advocacy and being a voice for the voiceless to ensure that policy change takes place at a national level.
Alongside the call to scrap the two-child benefit cap, Ben Gilchrist, CEO of Caritas Shrewsbury, encouraged and urged the Government to ensure that its new Child Poverty Strategy has clear and measurable targets. He emphasised the importance and willingness of charities working in cooperative partnership with the Government to align the Strategy with and ensure its successful implementation through their work on the ground.
A CES survey of child poverty in Catholic schools found that 94% offer help with school uniform costs, among many other measures to tackle it such as breakfast clubs, food banks, and even furniture provision for households in crisis.
Over the coming weeks the Government will have the opportunity to address the scourge of child poverty, with the publication of their Child Poverty Strategy at some point in the autumn or at the Chancellor’s Budget in November. This roundtable in Parliament demonstrates that the Catholic community considers this a priority and would urge the Government to scrap the two-child cap.
