Budget Saves Money by Starving Kids, Not Taxing Billionaires
Apparently, addressing childhood poverty is too expensive, even as the UK's richest 1% amassed 40% of all new wealth globally since 2020. This 'two-child cap,' ironically introduced by David Cameron, has been linked by the Resolution Foundation to a rise in child poverty by hundreds of thousands. One might wonder if the government's concern for 'budgetary constraints' extends to the £36 billion
lost annually to uncollected taxes from corporations and high-net-worth individuals. Or perhaps, the £88.5 billion given to energy companies in fossil fuel subsidies in 2022 alone. It appears easier to balance the books on the backs of the poorest children than to challenge the established order of vast corporate profits and tax avoidance. The FT's gentle phrasing – 'not expected' – frames this as
an unfortunate reality, rather than a deliberate policy choice that punishes families for existing. How many more children must enter poverty before the 'tough decisions' are made where the money actually is?