DWP could introduce 'child lock' on benefits and explains how it'll work

The new Labour Party government has been urged to introduce a ‘child lock’ on benefits to reduce poverty. Save the Children has called for a pensions triple lock-style policy to protect child-related welfare spending, the Guardian newspaper reports.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who will deliver her Budget next week, is facing calls to introduce a “child lock” to protect spending on child-related benefits in the autumn budget, a move campaigners say would dramatically reduce the number of children in poverty.

In a warning to the Labour Party, charity Save the Children called for a guarantee that benefits for supporting children are raised each year in line with inflation or average earnings.

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A lock on child-related benefits could result in 80,000 fewer children living in poverty at the end of this decade, they say. “No wealthy nation that is intent on growth can continue to have a child poverty rate this high. Child poverty is not bad luck, it is driven by systemic failure and political decisions,” said Meghan Meek-O’Connor, the child poverty policy lead at Save the Children UK, who authored the report.

“There is a chance now to start afresh and bring lasting change for children by protecting what is spent on them. The introduction of the pensions triple lock in 2010 was a pivotal moment in social security policy, ensuring that pensioners’ incomes were protected. We can, and should, do the same for children.”

It comes ahead of Ms Reeves' Budget on October 30. Paul Trench, 39, a father of four from Gateshead, said: “I think the child lock is needed so every single child, regardless of background, postcode or parents is given the same opportunities in life.”

He said: “My daughter, who is 14, looks at the price of items per kilogram on the shelf when we go shopping to get the best prices. Even for our children, it’s in their focus too. We’ve tried our hardest to shield our children from this but you turn on the TV and its everywhere.”