What is being done to tackle child poverty?

We’re at the Senedd for First Minister’s Questions as Eluned Morgan defends her government’s record on tackling child poverty.

Transcript

00:00Tackling child poverty has long been a key focus for the Welsh Government in the Senate,

00:05but Plaid Cymru say that not enough is being done, with an increasing amount of children

00:10and young people in Wales living in poverty.

00:12There are whispers that the UK Government could remove the two-child benefit cap,

00:16so Rhinep Jorwerth wants to know how the Welsh Government are going to make the most of this.

00:21When Welsh Government scrapped its target of eradicating child poverty by 2020,

00:26it said that the actions of the UK Government on welfare reform were to blame.

00:31Now, if the two-child cap is to be removed now, what will the First Minister's reasoning be now

00:37for not setting new, bold and ambitious child poverty targets?

00:41As the Welsh Labour Party, very clear and consistent,

00:46and saying we want to see a removal of that two-child benefit cap.

00:50This was something we asked under the Tories,

00:52it's something we consistently asked for under the Labour Government,

00:56and I do hope that the Chancellor will respond and will scrap that benefit cap when it comes to the Budget.

01:05We in Wales are doing what we can in order to support child poverty rates in Wales, to improve those.

01:14And you can see that in the fact that actually since 2022 we've invested £7bn in supporting the poorest communities in Wales.

01:25Just to give you an example, the Education Maintenance Allowance,

01:28we've increased that from £30 per week to £40 a week.

01:33We've got a stronger chance of tackling child poverty in Wales by working with the UK Government.

01:39Almost a decade ago, the Welsh Government scrapped child poverty targets,

01:42but Srinap Yorworth says that experts in the field believe it's a poor decision,

01:46so wants to know whether a target for the Welsh Government to aim at in reducing child poverty would help turn things around.

01:52Barnardos, the National Children's Bureau and Amnesty UK are among 67 signatories,

01:59backing calls for the long-awaited UK Government child poverty strategy to include targets,

02:04echoing repeated demands for Welsh Government to do so likewise before its strategy was published.

02:11But those demands were ignored.

02:13Now if the First Minister thinks she is right on this, why does she think that experts in the field of child poverty are getting it wrong?

02:22The Claim What Yours campaign has helped 90,000 people in Wales to claim the welfare benefits that they're entitled to.

02:32The Council Reduction Scheme offers financial assistance to 260,000 low-income households in Wales.

02:41We've got the discretionary assistance funds, we've got food banks, educational maintenance allowance,

02:47single advice funds, fuel bank vouchers, free school meals.

02:51All of these things go towards helping out with that situation in relation to child poverty.

02:58So if it's a part of the

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