Renewed efforts to reduce child poverty in England between now and 2033, such as removing the 2-child limit on child benefit, would significantly boost several aspects of child health and narrow health inequalities across the country, finds research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. Tackling it would substantially cut the number of infant deaths and children in care, as well as rates of childhood nutritional anemia and emergency admissions, with the most deprived regions, especially in the North East, set to benefit the most, the projections indicate. And it would likely have other beneficial knock-on effects on local authority and health services, suggest the researchers.
Child poverty is a key determinant of population health and health inequalities. Experience of it is associated with worse outcomes across a wide range of early years health indicators, with evidence suggesting that these associations are often causal, explain the researchers. Countries, such as the UK that opted for austerity in the wake of the global 2008 financial crisis, have had worse trends in child health outcomes than those that maintained or increased their welfare spend, they add.
And the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing cost of living crisis have heightened concerns about rising levels of child poverty in the UK in the absence of government policies specifically addressing these, say the researchers. Such policies include targeted measures to suppl.