The four steps include getting rid of the two-child limit on child benefit, scrapping the benefit cap, making free school meals available to all pupils and increasing child benefit by £20 a week.
Free school meals relieve pressures on household budgets, free up money for other living costs, and remove the stress of making and managing school meals. Current eligibility is far too stringent argues CPAG.
CPAG’s analysis shows that 900,000 children in poverty in England do not currently qualify for free school meals. CPAG estimates that rolling out universal FSM in England would cost £2 billion.
A spokesperson for CPAG said: “Poverty is devastating. It puts children’s education, health and life chances on the line. More than four million children are living in poverty in the UK. That’s nine kids in an average classroom of 30. This isn’t right, and it doesn’t have to be like this.
“We need a comprehensive strategy for tackling child poverty. A strategy that prioritises policies that directly affect children living in poverty by putting more money into families’ pockets, and eases pressures faced by families by, for example, helping to increase earnings and reduce school costs.”