Joanne Thomas – Usdaw general secretary says: “Today’s Budget shows that the Government is serious about tackling child poverty, particularly for those in working households. As one of the top seven wealthiest nations, it is unacceptable that millions of kids are growing up in poverty in the UK, with 7 in 10 of them in working households. That is a legacy of 14 years of Tory failure, which Labour is working to turn around. Ending the Tories’ unfair two-child cap will help hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty.
“Further action is already under consideration and Usdaw is participating in the Government’s reviews of the universally discredited Universal Credit system along with parental leave and pay. All these initiatives should make a real difference to working families, as will another significant increase in minimum wage rates, the continuing rollout of new free breakfast clubs, new nurseries in primary schools and doubling free childcare to 30 hours a week. This Government is helping to give children the best start in life.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
New minimum wage hourly rates, from 1 April 2026:
· National Living Wage (over-21s): £12.71 (+ £0.50) (+4.1%)
· 18 to 20-year-olds: £10.85 (+ £0.85) (+8.5%)
· 16/17s and apprentice rate: £8 (+ £0.45) (+6.0%)
Child Poverty Action Group: https://cpag.org.uk/
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion