Coronavirus: Sunak urged to increase child benefit rate
Nina Jacobs
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Child benefit should be increased by £10 per child per week to help ease financial pressures on families caused by the coronavirus crisis, a coalition of children’s organisations has said.
The National Children’s Bureau (NCB), one of more than 60 bodies that have come together to lobby the government, said the increase was needed to help parents facing reduced income cover the basic costs of raising their children.
The organisation said emergency support was required to help provide for children now at home full-time and before new income protection measures announced by the Chancellor come into effect.
-
Coronavirus: campaigners warn on capacity of children’s charities
-
Free school meals scheme to cover Easter holiday
An open letter to Rishi Sunak published by the coalition, which includes organisations such as The Children’s Society, Action for Children and The Poverty Alliance, said: “We welcome the steps taken so far to protect incomes in this time of great uncertainty.
We've joined more than 40 organisations from across Scotland in signing this letter, calling for a £10 child benefit increase in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
— Poverty Alliance (@PovertyAlliance) April 7, 2020
Families across the country are being pulled under. This could be the lifeline they need.https://t.co/0ileXzM49x
“As well as protecting individual incomes, we are convinced there is more to do to meet the needs of the UK’s families, focused on meeting children’s needs and easing some of the unexpected financial pressures families are grappling with now that most schools are closed.
“As child benefit reaches most families – 12.7m children receive it – it offers an effective, fast and resilient way to get money to families through our existing infrastructure – families will get the help they need directly into their bank accounts to cover additional costs,” the letter said.
The coalition estimates it would take more than a £5 increase to restore child benefit to its value after nearly a decade of rate freezes and “sub-inflationary uprating” since 2011.
-
Help families in poverty trap
-
Surviving the shutdown – who will be there to help young people?
-
More news on Covid-19
“An increase in child benefit of £10 per child per week, on top of the proposed uprating from 6 April, would reduce child poverty by around five percentage points and household poverty by one to two percentage points,” the coalition said.
Such an increase would be more effective in reducing child poverty than a £20 increase in universal credit and working tax credit despite families needing these rises too, it added.
The coalition stressed families subject to a benefit cap would need to have this restriction lifted to enable them all to benefit from the £10 increase.
“While all families are affected by the coronavirus pandemic, swift action to strengthen the finances of families and to shield children from additional hardship is critical in such exceptionally difficult times,” the letter concludes.
An emergency support package announced last month by the Chancellor will see workers placed on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, paid up to 80 per cent of their wages by the government, backdated to 1 March and initially for a period of three months.
A rise of £20 a week in the standard rate in universal credit and tax credits was also announced to come into effect from 6 April.
Child benefit is currently paid at £21.05 per week, with additional children awarded a weekly payment of £13.95.
