More than 200,000 people living legally in the UK are on the 10-year route to settled status, which requires legal migrants to renew 30-month visas four times at a cost of 3,908.50 including healthcare costs per renewal before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR). Under proposals by the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, if people have used public funds, even in work, the wait would double to 20 years.
More than 300,000 children already living in the UK could be forced to wait 10 years for settled status under proposed changes to the Home Office's earned settlement policy, according to an analysis by a centre left thinktank. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that nearly a quarter (23%) of the 1.35 million people already on routes to settlement are children, most of them dependants on their families' work visas.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
I read with interest that mayor Mamdani was considering a baby basket scheme in New York and hope that, by sending a Scottish example, it will provide inspiration to help him to refine and develop his exciting policy. Scots share much in common with the people of New York; not least our history and heritage as celebrated every year during New York Tartan Week.
The sun rises over the plateau of Neuquen's open-air rubbish tip. Maia, nine, and her brothers, aged 11 and seven, huddle by a campfire. Their mother, Gisel, rummages through bags that smell of rotten fruit and meat. Situated at the northern end of Argentinian Patagonia, 100km (60 miles) from Vaca Muerta one of the world's largest fossil gas reserves children here roam amid twisted metal, glass and rubbish spread over five hectares (12 acres). The horizon is waste.
Decades-old racism is returning to British politics, and it makes people feel very scared Keir Starmer has said, warning that divisive hard-right politics was tearing our country apart. Speaking to GP and TV personality Amir Khan, the prime minister accused Nigel Farage's Reform UK of overseeing a return of the racist and divisive politics that frankly I thought we had dealt with decades ago.
By electing a Plaid Cymru government able to forge a strong relationship with an SNP Scottish government, we can make our nations' voices heard in Westminster and demand that Wales gets parity of funding and powers with Scotland as the first step towards taking our future into our own hands.
It's crucial the government gets the child poverty strategy right. This is a landmark opportunity to set a truly transformative agenda for long-term change, but in an increasingly challenging economic climate there is every reason to worry warm words will not translate into tangible progress. Targets will provide much-needed benchmarks to track progress and keep driving action forward. The government's reticence so far has left us worried they're looking to dodge this vital layer of scrutiny.
Little Village, which represents a number of baby banks in the capital, told the BBC that supplies at their hubs were running low due to more families facing increased financial pressures. A survey by the charity found 81% of parents it currently helps felt they could not afford warm coats, boots or jumpers for their children. CEO Sophie Livingstone said increasing winter costs were "robbing parents of sleep and peace of mind," and she urged people to donate "before the cold sets in."
The Bridge Project, which already runs similar programs in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, said the goal is to give children more stability and take some financial pressure off new parents. It comes amid a crushing affordability crisis that's squeezing parents of young children who are struggling with child care and food costs, and as federal cuts threaten to strip benefits from many low-income households.
Campaigners need to change the way they talk about child poverty to counter far-right narratives and harness public energy for action, charities have warned. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Save the Children will on Wednesday launch a practical guide for campaigners, saying that although the third sector, politicians and the media talk frequently about the urgency of tackling child poverty, bolstered with alarming facts, the way we talk about it doesn't always help.
Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
Tánaiste says there may be 'degree of price gouging' by energy firms as bills increase again Extra €7 per week in budget to cover household power bills and payment eligibility widened Working Family Payment hike among social welfare measures used to tackle child poverty The Fuel Allowance will go up by about €200 in the budget to help ­pensioners and people with disabilities to cope with rising energy costs, after Tánaiste Simon Harris said energy companies may be "gouging" customers.
Simon Harris said there are no coalition tensions over varying the rate of increases for jobseekers and pensioners Jobseekers allowance should not increase at the same rate as other social welfare payments, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said, who added that he does not detect tension within Government on social welfare increases. Senior Government figures have signalled the end of one-off cost-of-living reliefs in next month's Budget on October 7. Instead, they've promised an increased focus on infrastructure and addressing child poverty.
Adas Rakauskas, 37, never forgot the present he received as an eight-year-old as his family was struggling financially and getting food to the table. Now the Co Louth-based dad has started making the "transformative" gifts for other children. Originally from Lithuania, Mr Rakauskas is also urging the entire country to join Team Hope's annual Christmas Shoebox Appeal by sending life-changing gifts to children affected by poverty around the world.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald raised the heartbreaking case of nine-year-old Harvey Morrison Sherratt, who died in July. "He was failed by the Government. Harvey's case is not an isolated case. Such failures are shamefully a hallmark of your Government," she told Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns also raised the case, slating the Government for painfully slow progress on the issue of disability. "Sixteen thousand children are overdue an assessment of need, essential therapies are non-existent and hundreds of children left in agony waiting for spinal surgery," she said.
More than 225,000 children are living in poverty when housing costs are accounted for, similar to the levels of child poverty seen during the financial crisis, new research has shown.
A cross-party commission including former welfare ministers is urging the government to scrap the two-child benefit limit as part of an ambitious once in a generation plan to lift millions of people out of poverty. The Poverty Strategy Commission said billions of pounds of investment including a boost to the rate of universal credit was needed to reverse record levels of poverty in the UK, and tackle longstanding failures over rising hardship and destitution.
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