Interesting links, articles, news and blog posts sent out to members on 01/04/25.
Inquiry: The First 1000 Days: a renewed focus – Health and Social Care Committee
March 2025. This inquiry is currently accepting evidence The committee wants to hear your views. Submissions are welcome from anyone with answers to the questions in the call for evidence. You can submit evidence until Tuesday 22 April 2025:
Link: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/9017/the-first-1000-days-a-renewed-focus/
Insight: Which children are most likely to be in poverty in the UK? – House of Commons Library
27 March 2025. The government’s child poverty strategy is due to be published in spring 2025. The latest data shows 31% of children were in relative poverty after housing costs in 2023/24:
Link: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/which-children-are-most-likely-to-be-in-poverty-in-the-uk/
News: Chancellor delivers spring statement cutting welfare benefits for families – Nursery World
26 March 2025, Catherine Gaunt. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered the Spring Statement, which include cuts to welfare, which will affect 3.2 million families, according to the Government’s own analysis, amid global uncertainty:
News: Reeves’ benefit cuts to plunge 250,000 people into poverty, government admits – The Independent Online
26 March 2025, David Maddox and Kate Devlin. There was outrage as the chancellor announced yet more welfare cuts which are now set to affect 3.2 million families:
Link: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/reeves-benefit-cuts-spring-statement-b2721998.html
News: New inquiry into a child’s first 1,001 days – Nursery World
24 March 2025. A new inquiry on the first 1,0001 days of life, the period from conception to age two, has been set up by the Health and Social Care Committee:
Link: https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/news/new-inquiry-into-a-childs-first-1-001-days
Voices: Five years after lockdown, child mental health is still in crisis – The Independent Online
23 March 2025.
Link: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/lockdown-pandemic-child-mental-health-crisis-b2718557.html
News: Post-Covid anxiety and poor mental health a ‘key driver in children skipping school’ – The Independent Online
23 March 2025, Holly Bancroft. Children lost an estimated 11.5 million days of learning last autumn term as school absence rates remain higher than pre-pandemic:
News: All UK families ‘to be worse off by 2030’ as poor bear the brunt, new data warns – The Observer in The Guardian Online
22 March 2025, Toby Helm. Keir Starmer has been dealt a fresh blow to his living standards pledge in advance of the spring statement:
News: Early years experts create guide to highlight importance of play – Nursery World
21 March 2025, Katy Morton. A new free resource emphasising the importance of play in children’s early years and how educators can promote play, has been launched:
Policy Report: Paying the price of child poverty – Action for Children
19 March 2025, Scott Compton. In this report, Action for Children include a range of interventions to support incomes through the social security system, improve opportunities for income from employment, and reduce household costs. They also present new estimates of the long-term benefits to society and the economy from reducing child poverty:
Article: Who is losing learning? Finding solutions to the school engagement crisis – Institute for Public Policy Research
18 March 2025. An alarming number of children are missing out on the social and educational benefits of school:
Link: https://www.ippr.org/articles/who-is-losing-learning-solutions
Article: Poorest children missing more school and further behind after Covid – BBC News Online
17 March 2025, Branwen Jeffreys. The poorest children are missing more school and falling further behind classmates, research shared with the BBC suggests:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g0rxz2yj4o
News: Government told to extend fair pay agreements to early years sector – Nursery World
14 March 2025, Katy Morton. The Government must reform Thatcher-era industrial relations by extending fair pay agreements to ‘childcare’, advises charity:
Article: Act ‘now or never’ to hit 6,500 teachers target, report warns – BBC News Online
13 March 2025, Vanessa Clarke. The government faces a “now or never moment” to hit its target of recruiting 6,500 new teachers in England by the end of its term, a new report has suggested:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgm1nwmm144o
Article: Doctors back total ban on smacking children in England – BBC News Online
6 March 2025, Nathan Standley. Leading child doctors have joined calls for a complete ban on smacking children in England, saying there is no evidence it has any positive effect on their wellbeing:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9q4x9d9xgpo
Report: UK Poverty 2024 – Joseph Rowntree Foundation
23 January 2025. “The UK is entering this election year with unacceptably high levels of poverty, appallingly high for some groups. We need a coherent plan with creative policies to end poverty in the UK. This report looks at the current situation across different groups and regions, and the future prospects for poverty in the UK”:
Link: https://www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2024-the-essential-guide-to-understanding-poverty-in-the-uk