Kids from a Walworth primary school, whose parents are immigrants with no recourse to public funds, joined an emotional protest outside Parliament this week to call for fairer access to child benefits.
Yesterday, (Tuesday, June 6) pupils from Surrey Square Primary in Walworth joined teachers, parents and community leaders in Victoria Tower Gardens to demand that every child in the UK receives child benefits.
It is part of a campaign led by Citizens UK following research by the Migration Observatory, which estimates that 180,000 children in the UK live with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF). This is a condition attached to visas which means some families cannot access benefits and the social safety net, even when they are working and paying taxes.
As a result, they do not receive Child Benefits, which are £24 each week for the first child, and £15.90 for any subsequent children i.e. at least £1,248 per year. Many parents will have NRPF for ten years – the majority of childhood.
One mother who knows exactly what that is like is 31-year-old Melissa, who also has a child at Surrey Square. Melissa explained that although she was born in America herself, she has been in the UK for nearly twenty years. “I’ve never had access to public funds,” she explained, despite working here and paying taxes.
Her daughter, Jessica, 11, was born in the UK but was only able to get her British Passport last year (when she turned ten). “She has her passport now, but she still has no access to public funds, because I don’t,” Jessica explained.
Melissa’s story is like many of the parents at the protest – because she was an immigrant, her child has never been able to access child benefits, even though she was born here.
She commented on what a difference it would have made: “It is very hard for us as immigrants to provide for our children and get well-paid jobs. It would help a lot – not for anything specific but £24 a week could have made things easier for Jessica growing up.”
At the demonstration, children and parents from across London shared personal stories about how this welfare restriction impacts them. They waved flags and chanted “every child should benefit”, finishing by throwing paper currency in the air “to symbolise the money that many children are missing out on.”
Albinia Stanley, Community Organiser from Citizens UK, said: “This issue is particularly urgent due to the cost-of-living crisis, which has left families struggling to meet their day-to-day needs, leaving children vulnerable to destitution and exploitation.
“Research by LSE shows how growing up with the NRPF welfare ban significantly impacts a child’s health, well-being, and life chances.”
Last year, in April 2022, after a campaign led by Citizens UK and other organisations, the government permanently extended free school meal eligibility to all children across the UK regardless of citizenship.
The Citizens UK #EveryChildShouldBenefit Campaign is now calling for the government to extend Child Benefits to every child, no matter what their immigration status.
