A rise in line with inflation would be the bare minimum – Tory policies have been targeting Britain’s poorest people since 2010
There is a growing trend on social media of teachers sharing stories of hungry children. Told in fewer than 280 characters, they are dispatches from the frontline of Britain’s growing poverty crisis. A few days ago, I saw an account in which a primary school teacher noticed one of her 7-year-old pupils starting to cry during a fire drill at lunchtime. It turned out the little boy wasn’t crying because he was scared of a fire. His mum had told him there was no food at home. If he missed his free school meal, he wouldn’t get any food that day.
I thought of him as I watched the government continue to debate not raising benefits in line with inflation – a move that research shows could push 450,000 more people into poverty next April. A new study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) demonstrates the scale: at least one in five working-age families in most constituencies – including in Liz Truss’s seat – would lose out by hundreds of pounds on average if the move goes ahead, just as energy and food bills continue to rise. More parents staring at an empty cupboard; more children afraid they won’t get their tea.
Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist
