Two-child limit was only the start of tackling child poverty

Iam a full-time working single mother of three and my budget for the next two weeks is £21.75.

This is a typical month end, but you won’t find us in most poverty data. Welcome to in-work poverty: the kind George Osborne’s austerity forgot. The kind where your income is too high for “absolute” or “relative” poverty, yet your childcare bill swallows your salary whole.

TUC research shows the number of kids in working families living in poverty rose by 44% from 2010 to 2023. Today, 59% of families impacted by the two-child limit are working and around half of these are single-parent families.

Raising children alongside full-time work is already two jobs. Being broke is a third. Even with a decent salary, universal credit top-ups, and a frugal lifestyle, basic bills are a struggle. Withou