The Government has announced several new measures to alleviate poverty across the country this winter, including a new ‘Covid Winter Grant Scheme’ for local authorities to distibute to low income families.
Anna Feuchtwang, Chief Executive of the National Children’s Bureau and Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition, said:
“Marcus Rashford deserves enormous credit for pushing the issue of poverty to the top of the public’s agenda and we must also acknowledge the government for listening.”
“But there is not a shortage of food in this country, there is a shortage of money in family budgets to buy it. While these new measures will help families who urgently need a hand, there’s much more that needs to be done to tackle child poverty.”
“We urge the Government to make a serious long-term commitment to put more money in the pockets of hard-pressed families. A crucial first step along this road must be to make the £20-a-week uplift in Universal Credit permanent.”