Welfare
Tackling Child Poverty
The increase in the number of children living in poverty under the Conservative UK Government is wholly unacceptable, and has left far too many of our young people struggling and with fewer chances in life.
We believe that any government should target the reduction and eventual abolition of child poverty as one of its major goals.
In the 2021 Senedd election in Wales, Plaid Cymru’s number one policy was the introduction of Free School Meals for all young people in primary schools, so that they can be assured of having a healthy and nutritious meal whilst learning.
Having successfully implemented this policy, we will now push to increase this roll-out to also include secondary schools across Wales.
As part of our mission to reduce child poverty, Plaid Cymru will increase child benefit by £20 per week for all children.
Across Wales, this will help the 330,000 families and more than 550,000 children and young people who are eligible for this, boosting their life chances and helping families to deal with the cost-of-living crisis forced upon them by the Conservative UK Government.
Child benefit is received by 94% of children in Wales, so we believe this to be the most effective way of providing support to families. It would allow them to plan their finances and make responsible decisions in the face of a cost-of-living crisis that has forced so many into poverty.
We will scrap the Conservative policy of the ‘two-child’ limit on universal credit payments, one of the key drivers of child poverty, and end the benefit cap which stops families from claiming the full amount.