28 April 2020 

Dear Chancellor 

Raise Child Benefit to £50 per child per week 

We wish to add our voices to calls to immediately increase Child Benefit to £50 per child per week. 

As community and grassroots organisations we are seeing at first hand the extreme financial consequences Covid-19 is having across the country. We are also seeing at first hand how the Universal Credit system is struggling to cope, how emergency measures are still missing many people out, and how the complexity of the welfare system is creating unnecessary stress and anxiety. At the same time, children being at home is adding costs to already over-stretched family budgets. 

An immediate increase in Child Benefit is a simple, efficient and cost-effective way to provide urgently-needed support to families. Crucially, it requires no changes to systems and will offer instant impact. 

We are aware of research that shows Child Benefit now covers only around 20% of what it takes to bring up a child. A far higher rise in Child Benefit can certainly be justified. Increasing it to £50 per child per week would be entirely reasonable, while making a significant difference for families. 

The impact of increasing Child Benefit to £50 per child per week would be enhanced even further if accompanied by a number of other steps including  

• Abolishing the 2-child limit to Universal Credit and Tax Credits 

• Removing the benefit cap

• Ending the five week wait for Universal Credit. 

With jobs and livelihoods being lost and businesses closing all of our grassroots organisations are seeing the very real and immediate impact coronavirus is having on family incomes. Increasing Child Benefit to £50 per child per week, plus our other proposals, are straightforward ways to support people facing immense financial strain. We urge you in the strongest possible terms to adopt these measures without delay. 

Yours sincerely,