Will the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill improve the wellbeing of children growing up in poverty? Asks Katie Porteous, IF student intern.
UK scores bottom for young wellbeing
Children and young people’s wellbeing is in decline and has been for some time. In 2022, the UK ranked 70th out of 73 countries for the proportion of children and young people with low wellbeing, a decline which alarmingly outpaces most other nations. Between 2015 and 2022, an additional 10% of 15 year-olds in the UK reported low wellbeing compared to just 6% across other countries where data was collected for that year. The UK scored lowest of all Western European nations, ranking 38 places; lower than France and 68 places behind the Netherlands.
Against this backdrop, the introduction of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill offers a faint glimmer of hope. However, a closer examination reveals that while the Bill acknowledges the needs of a struggling generation, it ultimately provides insufficient support for children living in poverty within the education system.
The Bill hints at an understanding of the significant hurdles faced by children growing up in poverty: free breakfast clubs; and capping branded uniform items. However, whether this Bill will be able to meaningfully address these hurdles depends on the extent to which it tackles the deeper roots of inequality and child poverty.
A patchwork of support
The headline proposals – free universal breakfast clubs in primary schools across England and limitations on branded uniform items – are undoubtedly welcome. For families struggling with rising living costs, the prospect of a guaranteed morning meal for their children and slightly cheaper uniforms offers some relief. The Children’s Poverty Action Group (CPAG) has highlighted that parents of primary school children typically pay a minimum of £352.86 per year for uniform and PE kit, while secondary school parents face a staggering £481.77. As such, any measures to reduce these costs provide welcome, albeit limited, relief.
However, to interpret these relatively modest measures as significant victories for children’s wellbeing and educational equity misunderstands the scale of the challenge. The commitment to breakfast clubs must be more than a short-term fix. It requires long-term and adequate funding to ensure these clubs: are properly staffed; provide nutritious meals; are genuinely accessible to all eligible children; and do not further burden already stretched school budgets.
Moreover, the Bill’s focus largely stops at the start of the school day, neglecting the crucial need for parallel investment in affordable and accessible after-school and holiday provisions. Research from the Education Policy Institute reveals that children receiving Free School Meals are less likely to participate in extra-curricular activities due to cost. Expanding access to affordable, quality after-school and holiday clubs would not only benefit children’s development and wellbeing. Rather, it would also provide crucial support for working parents, offering them more flexibility and opportunities to increase their working hours to earn additional income.
While limiting branded uniform items is a positive step, the Bill could go further in alleviating the financial burden of the school day. CPAG analysis suggests that substantial costs will persist for families even with the proposed restrictions. This point is reinforced by the Education Committee’s finding that lower-income pupils are disproportionately affected by uniform costs, leading to increased absenteeism due to practical limitations such as only having one uniform.
England remains the only UK nation without a national grant to help with uniform expenses, leaving families at the mercy of a postcode lottery of affordability. The government should consider establishing a national framework and dedicated funding for uniform grants, aligning England with the provisions already in place across the rest of the UK. This is especially urgent given that 47% of parents identify uniform affordability as a major concern. Moreover, school behaviour policies should be updated to ensure children are not sanctioned for income-related issues such as not having the correct uniform or equipment.
The root of the problem
Ultimately, any meaningful improvement in children’s wellbeing and educational outcomes requires a direct confrontation with child poverty. The latest government data revealed that a shocking 4.5 million children were in poverty in April 2024, an increase of 100,000 on the previous year. This means that within an average classroom of 30, nine children are facing the daily hardships associated with financial insecurity. As the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has clearly demonstrated, a household’s financial stability makes a significant difference to educational outcomes. Indeed, children growing up in poverty consistently experience lower educational attainment at every stage of their schooling. So far, efforts to narrow and eliminate this gap have not succeeded.
Poverty influences more than just academic attainment. Children growing up in poverty are also more likely to be absent, suspended or excluded from school. Furthermore, poverty appears to have a profound impact on mental health. Children in the poorest 20% of households are four times more likely to struggle with mental health challenges by age 11 compared to their wealthiest peers.
The minimum cost of education
Pupils from lower-income households face significant financial barriers to fully participating in the curriculum. CPAG research found that at secondary school level, families spend a minimum of £279 on resources and equipment just to take part in the curriculum. These costs can influence subject choices, with pupils from lower socioeconomic backgrounds 39% less likely than their peers to take music at GCSE – partly due to the cost of instrument tuition – and 49% less likely to take PE, where expenses related to equipment and extra-curricular sports are a deterrent.
While the Bill introduces some welcome practical measures, it largely sidesteps this fundamental issue. Lasting improvements in children’s wellbeing and their ability to thrive in school will remain elusive without bold and comprehensive policies to tackle the root causes of child poverty. An important next step for government should be to eliminate the hidden costs of learning, ensuring that all children, regardless of background, can access and participate in education on equal terms.
Moreover, a broader re-evaluation of social security policies is urgently needed. This includes scrapping the two-child limit, which would be a cost effective way of bringing large numbers of children above the poverty line. This policy’s impact is illustrated by the number of children living in deep poverty increasing from 2.9 million to 3.1 million in the last year, highlighting how poorer families are not just being left behind, but are being pushed further into poverty.
Investing in a poverty-free future for children
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill offers a welcome glimpse of progress, but it must be viewed as only the beginning. While addressing the immediate costs of the school day is important, it cannot replace the need for sustained and structural reforms to tackle child poverty. Real change requires long-term investment in crucial support services like extended school provision and the political will to address intergenerational fairness by confronting the root causes of child poverty.
Children deserve more than just a welcome first step; they deserve a comprehensive and unwavering commitment to their wellbeing and their opportunities to flourish and thrive. The government must now demonstrate the ambition and resolve to dig deeper and address the fundamental inequalities that continue to hold back the youngest and most vulnerable generation.
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