New @resfoundation.bsky.social research out today finds that more than 1 million children are pushed into poverty by high housing costs. Tackling this should be a central element of the Government’s upcoming Child Poverty Strategy. Thread/
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Although there are more children growing up in after housing costs poverty in the social rented sector, housing costs increase the poverty risk most for children whose families are privately renting…
Nearly half (46%) of the 1.5 million children in poverty in the private rented sector in 2022-23 lived in households with an income above the poverty line before housing costs are taken into account
Given this, an obvious first-order intervention would be repegging Local Housing Allowance rates (which determine the level of housing benefit low-income private renters can receive) to actual local rents.
The last Government matched LHA rates to the 30th percentile of local rents in April 2024 and announced they would be frozen indefinitely thereafter. The current Government has given no indication it will take a different approach
But if LHA is not adjusted in line with growing rents then serious shortfalls develop between benefit support and housing costs for private renting families. Average shortfalls are already >£60/week in parts of London.
If LHA rates were uprated in line with the 30th percentile of local rents from 2025-26, instead of being frozen, we estimate that around 75k children would be lifted out of poverty by 2029-30 ...
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