Tax credit cuts would be unfair, warn child poverty campaigners

The coalition government’s plans to means-test the Child Trust Fund and cut tax credits for higher earning families will do little to reduce inequalities, child poverty campaigners have warned.

Kayte Lawton, researcher at the Institute for Public Policy Research, accused the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives of picking “random policies” to cut.

She claimed families hovering just above the poverty line would lose out. It is understood that families with annual incomes of more than £16,000 could be classed as higher earners. “If you strip back benefits to the poorest families, most people feel excluded,” Lawton said.

A spokesman for the Child Poverty Action Group claimed cuts should be made in other areas first: “If you’re looking to improve fairness, then everything that is done to cut the deficit should go through some kind of inequality impact assessment.”