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A year ago, I was on a Child of the North panel at Labour Party conference (fringe, obvs), talking about what the government could do about child poverty.
Three-months post-election and I was frustrated and pretty angry - counting each one of the 109 kids pushed into poverty every day by the two-child limit. The policy Labour called βinhumaneβ but then kept (and kept).
In the room, I tore up my profesh speech and spoke from my gut. About the brutal, misogynistic policy. About how poverty makes kids deeply vulnerable. About our national apathy.
Listening: a producer and director from The Guardian documentary team. By November, they were up in Oldham shooting with me and now our film is out (on The Guardian website and YouTube).
A documentary short on what life is REALLY like for mums living in poverty/under the two-child limit near me in Greater Manchester (and beyond). The shame, stigma, all-out hostility. But also how the community swoops when the state fails.
We finished the film just a few weeks ago and with the governmentβs child poverty strategy due - deciding the future of the two-child limit - and with a record 4.5 million UK kids in poverty, a number still growing every day, itβs never felt more urgent. π¨
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Please do watch/share - link is in bio & stories.
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ALL CREDIT to Guardian heroes: super-producer @maeveshearlaw and director with a heart like an elephant @christophcherry (I love you, guys)
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& A HUGE THANK YOU to:
-Our mayor @andyburnhamgm @nightmayor_2025
-The Childrenβs Commissioner for England @childrenscommissioner
-Breaking the Waves @breakingthewavefoundation
-The volunteers & mums in Failsworth
-Reuse Littleborough (Rochdale)
@reuselittleborough - Mike and volunteers
-Longsight Family Hub (and our brave mum in Longsight)
-Save the Children @savechildrenuk
-The early learning community mums in Neepsend, Sheffield
+ I want to shout out local star, Sally Maher of Our Community Wardrobe in Lees
& everyone at the ace @mahdlo_youthzone in Oldham
#childpoverty #twochildlimit #poverty
a year ago_emilyconn
LBC INVITE - Hi Terri, I have just emailed you to invite you to come on LBC today. Please let me know!
a year agostargazer_bets
It's not just the two child limit, it's the benefit cap. Because if they don't change the benefit cap, you might be eligible for more money but won't get it. Both need to be reformed and local housing allowance needs to be updated in line with current market rents.
a year agostargazer_bets
Love this so much....ππ Made me cry with my own memories of poverty as a child. Housing is the number 1 problem, UC just pays rent for private market and no security there.
a year agolightinshades
I was watching this on Saturday morning on YouTube, whilst exercising in my mouldy private let! Psych! πͺ©πππΌββοΈ
a year agosummerdaze59
βThe single biggest driver of child poverty is the two child limitβ Are you literally joking??? π€― π‘ The biggest driver is people of lower socioeconomic status having children they canβt afford and expecting the state to fund them. Unexpected things can arise, but most people have savings, family support, insurance, educational/career achievements to protect their family. Poor people donβt, still have the kids, think afterwards. The cycle of under-achievement and reliance on the state continues with no incentive to break it.
a year agotayadora_blue_sky
Thank you @terrilwhite for covering this important topic so powerfully. Best journalism ever! Please consider signing & sharing parliamentary #petition725167, we are asking the government to end the 2-child limit/ benefit cap and increase child related benefits in line with inflation/earnings
a year agoffwffi.freya.isabella
Thanks for all your work, Terri! Doing my best to fight to end this cruel policy.
a year agobeckyisms
Poignant and so important. Thank you for highlighting intersection, which is all the more salient now. Difficult to ignore that I only spotted one man out volunteering/working in the community places. But thatβs a whole other conversation!
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