Women and children are being pushed into poverty by real-terms welfare cuts, and the next government must scrap benefit caps and increase support, experts have warned.
The income of the poorest women has fallen significantly, as well as households with children, black women and those with a disability, analysis has shown.
Labour has been urged to look again at its refusal to commit to scrapping the two-child benefit cap if it enters government.
And welfare experts have described it as “shocking” that government have “chosen to penalise children” through the benefit cap which they said is “one of the key drivers of child poverty”.
A report published by an economic think-tank, seen by i, compared the value of welfare 14 years ago to what it will be by the end of the next parliament if it continues along current trends.
The Women’s Budget Group (WBG), which describes itself as a “feminist economics think-tank”, said real terms cuts to welfare since 2010 have contributed to “gender inequality” in the UK and pushing women and children into poverty.
Comparing 2010 rates to forecasts women lose 7 per cent of their income compared with men who lose 3 per cent.
The poorest are hit much harder, with those on the lowest incomes losing on average £3,348 per year, amounting to more than a quarter of their income (26 per cent).
Black women lose £2,498 per year – equivalent to 10 per cent – and disabled women see their income fall by £2,553, the equivalent of 11 per cent.
Lone parents lose an average of £6,992 (18 per cent) and households with three or more children see a loss of £5,962, of which almost £2,000 is linked to the two-child limit. This is fall of almost a quarter (23 per cent).
The WBG is calling for the next government to abolish the benefit cap and two-child limit as well as increasing the child benefit from £25.60 to £50 per child.
It said the real value of benefits must increase to the pre-2010 level – and continue to be uprated – and argued the link between housing benefits and rental prices must be restored.
The call comes as Labour was urged to pledge to scrap the two-child benefit cap and introduce free school meals for all primary school children to tackle child poverty.
Ahead of the party’s “Clause V” meeting on Friday, where it will sign off its manifesto, campaign group Momentum is urging Sir Keir Starmer to back the polices.
Starmer has resisted calls to promise to scrap the two-child limit despite pressure from within his party, arguing that he cannot make pledges that cannot be paid for.
Dr Zubaida Haque, deputy director of WBG said: “If the next government is serious about tackling child poverty and addressing persistent inequalities, it must repair and reform the social security system. This starts with scrapping punitive and cruel sanctions and restoring the real value of benefits.”
She added: “It is shocking that successive governments since 2010 have chosen to penalise children through the two-child limit on benefits, one of the key drivers of child poverty.
“They have also chosen to further penalise low-income households who were already struggling financially, including disabled people.”
Labour and the Conservatives have been approached for comment.