The UK is facing a record number of child poverty and those relying on foodbanks to get by. Labour has the chance to change that, starting with the publication of its Child Poverty Strategy. But beyond new policies to tackle poverty, what Labour needs is to come up with a new story about  the recipients of social security free of vilification and negative stereotypes, argue Ruth Patrick and  Chris Birt. 

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The start of a new year brings with it the promise of a clean slate: many of us will be setting ourselves new year’s resolutions for how we will be healthier, try new things or learn from the past – be a better partner, colleague, parent or friend. If governments were to make pledges to themselves, and the country that they govern, we would suggest that a great place to start in 2025 would be by making a commitment to tell a new story about social security. 

The narrative behind the dire state of social security

For too long now, our social security system has been undermined by UK governments, with repeated cuts and imposition of stigmatising and ineffective policy. Policy has often been driven by harmful narratives about people struggling to get by, rather than by active efforts to reduce poverty. The worst examples of this rest in the two-child limit and the five week wait for a first payment of Universal Credit. We have also persistently seen an any work first approach to Universal Credit that has often forced people into part-time and low paid work – while governments also failed  to take on broader structural issues in the labour market. Crucially, recent approaches on social security have all failed to reduce poverty.

We now have record rates of child poverty, with 4.3 million children growing up in poverty at the last official count. And we are continually confronted with the evidence of the multiple and overlapping harms this causes.

Both the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis that followed have somewhat masked the fact that poverty has deepened in the UK since the turn of the millennium. Volunteers who set up food banks over a decade ago thought they were just helping people through a tough winter and yet the Trussell network provided 3.1 million food parcels in the last year alone, breaking records here for all the very worst of reasons. 

We now have record rates of child poverty, with 4.3 million children growing up in poverty at the last official count. And we are continually confronted with the evidence of the multiple and overlapping harms this causes; whether in increased infant mortality rates; or in the role teachers are forced to play in providing not just an education, but also snacks and essential items to the children in their care. 

None of this is by accident, it is driven by the repeated ideological attacks our social security system has faced. Once seen as a key pillar of our welfare state – freeing us from want – now often talked about separately from other public spending and as something to be “dealt with”. This framing needs to change. It harms people who need support and is producing bad policy.

The problem of poverty is one that is highly sensitive to policy change: we know from the last Labour Government that sustained action here can and will make a difference.

Labour’s opportunity for policy change

The new Labour Government has been in office for just over six months, and – as yet – they have not fully embraced the challenge of rebuilding our social security system, backed by a strong, positive case for investment in social security. This year will see the publication of the first Child Poverty Strategy in over seven years; a welcome commitment from Labour, and one which we think should be wrapped up in real and meaningful efforts to shift the narrative on social security. 

The problem of poverty is one that is highly sensitive to policy change: we know from the last Labour Government that sustained action here can and will make a difference; and we know that social security is a key lever for bringing poverty rates down. Labour often argue that they have reduced poverty when in government before and will do so again. That they promise change and delivery. If so, they should look to their recent history – reform of state pensions and the introduction of child tax credits significantly reduced both child poverty and poverty amongst older people. Their delivery in Government before dictates that their forthcoming Child Poverty Strategy will not be credible without action on social security.

Change requires our politicians to shift their rhetoric from one grounded in bullying to a meaningful offer of support.

Policy change isn’t enough, we need a new narrative

If we are to shift the dial on poverty, we need to see real leadership from politicians – not just on making the policy changes needed; but on thinking about the stories that they tell about poverty and social security. Change requires our politicians to shift their rhetoric from one grounded in bullying to a meaningful offer of support. In a social contract that is mutual – where people and support services work together, rather than in a context of power imbalance and distrust. Nobody is suggesting social security is the only means by which poverty can be reduced but it must be part a positive part of the solution and, crucially, it works.

Public attitudes have been moving in favour of more generous social security entitlement for a number of years; in part a recognition of the cost of living crisis; and an understanding of the extent to which social security has been stripped back again and again. 

The public are ready for new stories on social security, we would argue, and the UK Government does not have to look far in search of them; with some important examples of alternative narratives within devolved contexts. Devolution has created the space for distinctive approaches here; and this has been increasingly discernible at both the devolved national level but also regionally, where some of the elected mayors are pushing hard for a different approach, and story, on social security. For example, the first principle of the Scottish Parliament’s Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 is that “social security is an investment in the people of Scotland” – something that could be usefully stated for the whole UK. 

If Labour are to make policy changes on poverty that stick, and survive future electoral changes, then they need to spend time crafting this new story.

While the Scottish Government has much work to do to meet their own child poverty reduction targets, they invested in their rhetoric – through the Scottish Child Payment (a £26.70 per week per child payment for low-income households in Scotland) and through a recent commitment to scrap the two-child limit.  Taken together, this represents an investment of more than £500 million additional social security spending – equivalent to around £6 billion at a UK level.

And we see it in Manchester and in the North East, where metro mayors Andy Burnham and Kim McGuiness are both directing sustained attention to the problem of poverty, and the ameliorating policy action required. 

The UK Labour Government needs to be bold and brave here; and can learn both from the examples of policy conviction and rhetoric elsewhere in the UK; and from the mistakes its New Labour predecessors made in office. As Ruth Lister has argued, under New Labour redistribution was conducted by stealth – without a popular and persuasive case made publicly for the changes being delivered to improve life chances and outcomes and tackle poverty. 

If Labour are to make policy changes on poverty that stick, and survive future electoral changes, then they need to spend time crafting this new story; and making sure it is one that has real traction. Doing so requires a willingness to talk of social security as a force for good; and as a key element of a welfare state that is there for all of us at points in our life course where are needs are higher, and when unexpected life events occur. And they need to embrace a more inclusive depiction of “hard working families”, which includes statements from Keir Starmer and his most senior colleagues, setting out how working can encompass, not just paid work, but the very hard work of parenting, caring, volunteering, and managing one’s illnesses or impairments. Labour should also work closely with those with direct experiences of social security and poverty; whose accounts and everyday realities can help craft a persuasive case for change; and one rooted in solidarity and the hopes we all share for our children and their futures. 

A new year can make a new beginning; and the best resolutions are ones that last. We call on UK Labour to have the bravery to make 2025 the year they make a fresh start on social security. We can think of no better resolution for this government to make and keep.

All articles posted on this blog give the views of the author(s), and not the position of LSE British Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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