Free school meals will not end child poverty but they will go a good way towards protecting children from hardship and helping struggling families to stay afloat, says CPAG.
The biggest losses experienced are mostly down to a small number of specific choices the government has made about universal credit’s design, says the Institute for FiscalStudies.
Typical disposable incomes for non-retired households in 2016-17 were just two per cent higher than in 2006-07. Typical incomes for retired households increased by 18 per cent over the same period.