The UK government has launched a comprehensive plan aimed at reducing child poverty by tackling unstable housing, childcare barriers and the growing cost of essential items. Announced on 4 December 2025, the strategy marks one of the most wide-ranging policy packages in recent years to support low-income families.
A central pillar of the plan is the creation of a Temporary Accommodation Exit Programme, designed to help families move out of short-term housing and into stable homes. The initiative will offer personalised support, including assistance with deposits, advance rent payments and basic furnishings-areas where many families currently struggle to meet upfront costs.
Alongside housing support, ministers confirmed a national expansion of Family Hubs, which will serve as one-stop locations for parenting advice, mental-health services, debt support and early-years programmes. The government argues that bringing these services together locally will make it easier for parents to access help before problems escalate.
Childcare reforms form another major component of the strategy. From April 2026, the free childcare entitlement for working parents will be extended to children from the age of nine months. Officials said the change is intended to remove a major financial barrier that prevents many parents, particularly mothers, from returning to work. A new subsidy trial will also cover upfront childcare costs for those entering employment-expenses that families often cannot pay before their first wage arrives.
To address the day-to-day pressures of rising living costs, the government introduced an Essentials Guarantee pilot. This scheme will allow families to access children’s clothing, school uniforms, bedding and basic kitchen equipment through local support networks, reducing reliance on high-interest credit or emergency loans.
The strategy is partly shaped by a government-commissioned review published alongside the plan. The review warned that living in temporary accommodation can have a “devastating” impact on babies’ brain development, due to chronic stress placed on parents and the lack of stable routines. In response, ministers pledged £16 million for enhanced health visitor checks, early-years interventions and programmes designed to strengthen parent-child relationships.
Other elements of the plan include efforts to expand flexible working opportunities for parents and a commitment to review the impact of the controversial two-child benefit limit on poverty levels. While the government insists the strategy targets the root causes of disadvantage-housing instability, barriers to employment and material deprivation-the opposition argues it falls short, criticising the decision not to abolish the two-child cap.
The government maintains that the strategy represents a long-term approach to breaking cycles of poverty, with the aim of ensuring children grow up in safe homes, supported households and stable environments.
