The UK Government is developing a new Child Poverty Strategy. This is an important opportunity to ensure every child has the foundations they need to live well.
At Just Fair, we have submitted evidence to the UK Parliament’s “Realising Potential: Delivering the Child Poverty Strategy” inquiry. Our submission argues that tackling child poverty requires a rights-based approach that places children’s economic, social and cultural rights at the centre of policymaking.
Children’s access to adequate food, housing, healthcare, education and social security should not depend on changing political priorities. These are rights recognised in international law. These rights provide the foundations people should be able to rely on to live well.
Yet too many children in the UK are growing up without those foundations.
International monitoring
In March 2025, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights raised concerns about rising poverty and falling living standards across the UK. It highlighted the growing number of households unable to afford necessities such as heating, electricity and clothing, and noted that children are disproportionately affected. The UN called on the UK Government to take stronger action to address poverty and ensure its approach complies with a child rights-based framework.
Child poverty does not happen by accident. It reflects how systems are designed and the choices made about laws, policies and public spending. Inadequate levels of social security, high housing costs, low pay and insecure work, and regional inequalities all shape children’s life chances. A strategy that does not address these structural drivers will struggle to deliver meaningful change.
Clear targets
One of the clearest steps the UK Government can take is introducing statutory child poverty reduction targets, supported by interim milestones.
Targets translate commitments into measurable outcomes. Without them, it becomes difficult to assess whether policies are working or to hold decision-makers accountable. Interim milestones are particularly important because they help track progress over time, identify where policies are not delivering and allow governments to adjust course where needed.
The UK has previously used this approach. The Child Poverty Act 2010 introduced legally binding targets and monitoring duties, helping to embed poverty reduction as a cross-government priority. Although those targets were later repealed, they demonstrated how clear benchmarks can sustain political focus and accountability.
Targets must also be backed by effective monitoring and evaluation. A strong framework should include clear indicators, regular public reporting on progress and independent oversight to ensure transparency and accountability. Monitoring should not only track overall outcomes but also assess whether progress is being made fairly across different groups of children.
Child Rights Impact Assessments
The UK Government should adopt Child Rights Impact Assessments. These assessments require policymakers to consider how laws, policies and budgets will affect children’s rights before decisions are made.
Child Rights Impact Assessments are a practical tool that help prevent unintended harm and support better decision-making. Research from Wales, where they are embedded in government processes, shows they can strengthen accountability and improve policy design. By identifying potential impacts early, they can also help avoid costly policy failures later.
Recent experience highlights why this matters. The UK Covid-19 Inquiry found that children’s needs and rights were often overlooked during pandemic decision-making, leading to significant harm to children’s wellbeing and development. Embedding stronger rights-based tools in policymaking can help ensure this does not happen again.
Lasting change
For the Child Poverty Strategy to succeed, it must also endure beyond electoral cycles. That requires stronger legal and institutional foundations.
Although the UK has ratified international treaties protecting economic, social and cultural rights, these rights are not fully reflected in domestic law. This can leave child poverty policy vulnerable to shifting political priorities and short-term decision-making.
Child poverty reflects how our systems are designed. A strategy grounded in human rights, supported by clear targets and strengthened by tools such as Child Rights Impact Assessments, could help ensure those systems work for children.
The UK Government now has an opportunity to develop a strategy that is ambitious, accountable and durable, one that ensures every child can access the foundations they need to live well and reach their full potential.
By Alex Firth, Advocacy and Communications Officer
Read more of our published work on child poverty here and here.
