Tackling child and family poverty through a place-based lens

Jarvis, Sue ORCID: 0000-0001-9000-9479, de Sousa, Eustace, Bradburn, Dave, Ashton, Matt and Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place (2025) Tackling child and family poverty through a place-based lens. [Report]

Text PB_3_23.pdf - Published version Download (855kB) | Preview

Executive Summary

Key takeaways 1. Child and family poverty in the UK has reached critical levels, with 4.5 million children living in relative poverty and 3.1 million in deep poverty. The drivers are complex and multifaceted, including structural issues such as welfare reform, insecure work, and rising housing costs, all of which have far-reaching consequences for children's health, education, and life chances as well as for the wider economy. 2. Child poverty is not inevitable and has been reduced in the past through sustained, coordinated policy interventions, such as tax credits and support from Sure Start centres. However, progress has been undermined by national policy shifts, including austerity and welfare reforms, which disrupted continuity and weakened long-term impact. 3. This policy briefing explores innovative work in Cheshire and Merseyside, where the Champs public health collaborative has led a systems-based, place-focused approach to tackling child and family poverty. The case study illustrates how local public health systems with their sub-regional reach are well-placed to lead integrated, cross-sector responses to complex challenges that straddle multiple policy areas. 4. The Cheshire and Merseyside child poverty framework provides a shared understanding of the nature of the challenge and outlines tangible actions. The framework is structured around three core pillars: maximising household income, supporting families, and creating inclusive places, illustrating how local systems can co-ordinate strategic efforts around shared objectives. Overseeing this is a multi-sector leadership group including local government, the voluntary sector, academics and the NHS. 5. With the Government’s Child Poverty Task Force due to report in Autumn 2025, the Cheshire and Merseyside model offers a compelling example of how place-based, systems-led collaboration can inform a national Child Poverty Strategy that aligns local innovation with long-term structural reform.

Item Type:	Report
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	08 Jul 2025 10:11
Last Modified:	08 Jul 2025 10:11
DOI:	10.17638/03172474
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3172474