Children living in England’s most impoverished areas are less likely to meet developmental milestones by age five, Unicef UK reports, urging policymakers to reconsider the two-child benefit cap.
Unicef’s study has examined each local authority in England, gauging both deprivation levels and early childhood benchmarks such as oral health, weight, and A&E attendance.
The study reveals that children in the most deprived regions are more than twice as far from reaching the government’s goal of 75% development progress compared to those in well-off areas.
The five areas facing the highest deprivation — Blackpool, Knowsley, Liverpool, Kingston upon Hull, and Middlesbrough — fall within the lowest 20% in most child wellbeing metrics.
In deprived areas, obesity rates among reception-age children are 12.9%, compared to 6% in affluent areas, and nearly twice as many children have untreated tooth decay, at 29% versus 15%.
Children in these areas also experience 55% more A&E visits than those in less deprived areas.
Unicef UK is advocating for the removal of the two-child benefit cap to alleviate child poverty and enhance access to healthcare and educational resources for children.
Philip Goodwin, Unicef UK’s CEO, emphasizes that economic hardship can have lasting impacts, particularly on young children, leading to poor educational outcomes, obesity, tooth decay, and increased A&E admissions before age five.
He urges the government to take immediate, decisive action and lift both the two-child limit and benefit cap to curb rising child poverty.
Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of the King’s Fund, adds that child poverty is intimately tied to declining health, warning that today’s unhealthy children will become tomorrow’s unhealthy adults.
Woolnough advocates for a concerted effort to allocate more NHS funding to children’s services and equip local services to prioritize child health.
Keir Starmer has voiced determination to combat child poverty and has been questioned about the two-child benefit cap in Parliament.
A government spokesperson noted the introduction of breakfast clubs and increased funding for disadvantaged students, as well as plans to expand free school meals.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2025/jun/09/children-in-englands-most-deprived-areas-less-likely-to-achieve-development-goals-by-age-five
