Quakers join faith leaders in urgent call to tackle child poverty
Quakers have joined senior faith leaders in calling on the UK government to be bold and ambitious in its upcoming Child Poverty Strategy.
Thirty-five faiths, including Quakers in Britain, signed an open letter to Education Secretary Bridget Philipson and Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, urging decisive action to lift millions of children out of hardship.
The letter, signed by all six of the major faith traditions represented in the UK, highlights the devastating scale of child poverty and calls for urgent policy changes to address the crisis.
Currently, 4.3 million children - three in every 10 - are living in poverty across the UK. Without intervention, a further 400,000 children are projected to be pulled into poverty by 2030.
Adwoa Burnley, clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting (Quakers), joined former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, director of Islamic Relief UK Tufail Hussain and others, in signing the letter.
The Quaker testimony to equality compels action to ensure every child can thrive, regardless of their background.
The letter states: “While we come from different faith traditions, we share a belief that working to end poverty should be a hallmark of any decent, compassionate society. We also believe that transformational change is possible."
It draws on new research from Action for Children, which outlines measures that could lift 1.2 million children out of poverty by 2030.
The report identifies the removal of the two-child limit and benefit cap as the most effective step the government could take immediately, freeing 400,000 children from poverty at a cost of £3.9 billion per year.
The government has promised an ambitious plan and the Quakers, along with other faith communities, are urging ministers to seize this moment to deliver real change.