Child poverty

That this House notes that recent End Child Poverty coalition research indicates that there were 4.3 million children living in poverty in the UK in 2019-20 and that recent Households Below Average Income figures show child poverty is likely to have significantly worsened during the covid-19 pandemic; believes the Government must prioritise expanding the safety net for struggling families and those facing housing insecurity; recognises the Government's rolling out of free school meals during school closures, the extension of free school meals to children affected by the No Recourse to Public Funds condition, the £20 a week universal credit uplift, and the Covid Winter Grant Scheme that supported families in financial crisis; and supports recent calls from the Children's Society for the Government to turn these interventions into long term sustained investment to support low-income families.