The proposals come as the Prime Minister is set to announce plans to tackle the social care crisis and NHS treatment backlog, which could cost £10 billion a year
(Picture: PA Media)Boris Johnson was urged on Tuesday to spend £14 billion to tackle child poverty and stop the “gulf” between rich and poor in Britain widening in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a major report, the Social Mobility Commission warned the Covid crisis will be “felt for decades”.
The commission, which advises the Government, outlined how the large-scale expenditure could lift 1.5 million children out of poverty.
Key recommendations in its State of the Nation Report 2021 include:
- Raise Universal Credit child payments and Child Benefit by at least £10 per week per child.
- End the two-child limit for Universal Credit so larger families are not penalised.
- Expand eligibility for entitlement for 30 hours of free childcare to all families.
- Making life skills teaching mandatory at school end-of-year after GSCEs and A-levels.
- Tailoring the apprenticeship levy more effectively for disadvantaged trainees.
- Build three million social homes in the next 20 years.
The independent commission argued that if tax rises are needed to pay for this social mobility programme, they should be levied only on those “who can afford to pay”.
Sandra Wallace, the commission’s interim co-chair, said: “Ending child poverty and investing significantly in education are two of the most impactful and influential things the UK Government can do to improve social mobility.”
The proposals come as the Prime Minister is set to announce plans to tackle the social care crisis and NHS treatment backlog, which could cost £10 billion a year.
The commission said almost one in three children, 4.3 million, now live in “child poverty”, 700,000 more than in 2012.
“The pandemic will have a profound impact on the UK over the next decades,” said the report.
“There is a huge risk that the gulf between the rich and the poor will continue to grow ever deeper.”
