Those things include expanding free school meals to every family on Universal Credit, rolling out free breakfast clubs in primary schools, creating Best Start Family Hubs across the country and Scrapping the two child limit.
Expanding free school meals to every family on Universal Credit
From the start of the 2026 school year, every pupil in state funded schools, school-based nurseries, sixth forms and further education institutions, whose household is on Universal Credit will be entitled to free school meals.
This will put £500 back into parents' pockets per child, every year, and means over half a million more children will benefit from a free nutritious meal every school day. Research shows that giving children access to a nutritious meal during the school day leads to higher attainment and improved behaviour.
Since 2018, children have only been eligible for free school meals if their household income is less than £7,400 per year. This meant hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty couldn't access this support. The expansion will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty.
Rolling out free breakfast clubs in primary schools
Half a million more children will benefit from free breakfast clubs from September 2026. Applications have opened for the next wave of 500 schools with 40% of pupils on free school meals to benefit from the programme.
The clubs save working parents up to £450 and give back up to 95 hours of time each year. Schools with the highest proportion of pupils on free school meals are being prioritised so support goes first to where it's most needed.
Creating Best Start Family Hubs across the country
Up to 1,000 Best Start Family Hubs will be created across every local authority in England by 2028, with over £500 million being invested in the programme. These hubs will be local centres where families can access a range of services all in one place.
Scrapping the two child limit
From April 2026, the Government will remove of the two child limit, which prevents parents from claiming Universal Credit for third and subsequent children born after April 2017. Most families (six in ten) affected by the two-child limit are in work.
Half had all off their children before coming onto benefits, through a change in circumstances. This change will lift 450,000 children out of poverty by the end of the Parliament.
The Government will support working families with three or more children by increasing the maximum amount of childcare costs they can claim in Universal credit by £736.06 for each additional child above the current maximum cap for two children.