CHILDREN should be at the heart of national policy, bishops and campaigners have said, as the country gears up for the General Election next month.

Tackling child poverty should be prioritised, they say.

“Families are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of debt and poverty,” the director of external affairs of Christians Against Poverty (CAP), Gareth McNab, said this week. “We know from our recent YouGov polling that 40 per cent with three or more children are finding it hard to keep up with their bills, which is why we support the urgent removal of the two-child benefit cap.”

Conservative and Labour manifestos have made no mention of scrapping the two-child limit on benefits, which campaigners say is crucial to ending child poverty. The Liberal Democrats and the Green Party have committed to do so.

Responding to the manifestos this week, the Children’s Society said: “With more than 4.3 million children now living in poverty, the next UK Government needs to set binding targets to reduce child poverty and immediately take action. It is therefore disappointing to see only one of the major parties looking to scrap both the two-child limit and the benefit cap which is the most cost-effective way to immediately lift 300,000 children out of poverty.”

The Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Philip North, agreed. He told the Church Times this week: “The two-child benefit cap is iniquitous, the abolition of benefits and the universal-credit system has been disastrous, and the ending of Sure Start [children’s centres and services] has been possibly one of the worst political decisions in my lifetime.”

He continued: “Jesus placed the child and its needs at the centre of the community, and the contribution of churches is very important. But more is needed, particularly when children in care have become commodities. Private-sector companies have taken over, make huge profits, and local authorities are being driven to bankruptcy.

“Foodbanks have become normalised, countless children are in grinding poverty, and everything is fuelled by a low-pay culture. It’s a national emergency.”

Of the more than 4000 emails submitted to candidates so far through CAP’s new online tool, more than half (56 per cent) had wanted to know what their candidates were doing to tackle local poverty. “People see poverty as a matter of public urgency,” Mr McNab said. “It is stealing the dignity and hope of thousands in their local communities, leaving them cold, hungry, and isolated.”

The director of Innovation Lab at Compassion UK, Jonathan Prosser, has written to all party leaders to seek a fundamental shift towards child-centred policies, including the introduction of a dedicated Minister for Children, and “valuing the social good” of parenting.

“We have an unparalleled opportunity to . . . become a child-centred nation. This commitment would not only foster domestic growth and well-being, but also serve as a world-leading asset in foreign policy and diplomacy, delivering transformational outcomes for children.”

A report published on Monday by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, The Impact of Hardship on Primary Schools and Primary and Community Healthcare, has found that, “on average, primary school staff estimate 48 per cent of their pupils had experienced hardship at some point since the start of the school year.”

Food poverty is widespread: hunger is “an everyday occurrence” for more than one third (35 per cent) of pupils, rising to 44 per cent in deprived areas. “Primary school staff across Britain are seeing children who are hungry, tired, and in need of emotional support because they are experiencing hardship.”

The report also states that “a third of workers say their school provides a foodbank, a quarter say they provide other essentials (such as toiletries, energy top-up vouchers, beds and bedding), and nearly two in five say staff are providing direct support out of their own pocket.”

The principal policy adviser of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Katie Schmuecker, said: “Hardship has reached a shameful level in our country, with almost four million people finding themselves in destitution in a single year — unable to keep themselves dry, warm, and fed.

“As a country, we need our politicians to address hardship at source, not look the other way. We still need to hear how they’ll take urgent action to support families, as well as setting out bold, long-term solutions which ensure that everyone in our country can at least afford the essentials.”

In a social-media post this week, the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, said: “At election hustings it’s worth asking candidates to comment on why, in 2023-24 year, Trussell Trust foodbanks in Norfolk distributed 41,303 food parcels — up 72 per cent from five years ago. Two out of three user households were unable to work and were reliant on benefits.”