Policy work and research

1 in 3 children in the UK are growing up in poverty. This isn’t right.

The government have the tools to lift children out of poverty.

They can do this by increasing benefit levels to cover the essentials, removing harmful benefit rules like the two-child limit, and addressing barriers that prevent parents from working.

Help us tackle child poverty

Families need support before problems spiral out of control.

This keeps families together to provide a loving home for children.

Early help spending has been cut in half since 2010, and we’re seeing more children removed from their families into care.

Early help for children and families

Children and young people in care have traumatic histories and other kinds of complex needs.

High-quality care and support can help them to thrive.

When they leave care, continuity of support can help them make the tricky transition to adulthood, helping them to go on to lead fulfilling lives.

Children's social care

Exploitation by criminal groups is child abuse. Victims need their exploitation to be recognised as a distinct form of child abuse.

And we must take a welfare-first approach in the management of offences committed by exploited children.

Thanks to the National Lottery players, Action for Children has received almost £5 million from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK.

This transformative grant that we'll receive across the next three years will allow us to open five new exploitation intervention services.

Criminal exploitation of children