“500,000 children have been lifted out of poverty due to the current government's policies.”

Keir StarmerSpeechJune 22, 2026Read the original

Our verdict

Not Proven

The claim that 500,000 children have been lifted out of poverty due to the current government's policies originates from a projection by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which estimates that two specific policies would lift that number of children out of poverty by the end of the parliament if implemented.

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What we found

No evidence in the reviewed sources shows that this lift has already occurred; the JRF analysis is forward‑looking and conditional. Other sources discuss child poverty trends in the United States or general poverty statistics and do not corroborate a realized reduction of 500,000 children in the UK. Consequently, the claim lacks sufficient evidence of an actual outcome and is best classified as not proven.

The evidence

2 sources, all background: none settles the claim either way.

Contradict 0Support 0Background 2

Background
The JRF article states that introducing a protected minimum floor in Universal Credit and removing the two-child limit would lift 500,000 children out of poverty and reduce poverty depth for another 1 million by the end of the parliament—a projection, not an observed outcome.
jrf.org.uk· JRF projection of 500,000 children lifted
Background
At Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) on 17 June, there was disagreement between the Leader of the Opposition, Keir Starmer, and the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, on trends in the level of child poverty. “A report last week from the Government’s Social Mobility Commission concluded that there are now ‘600,000 more children…living in relative poverty’ than in 2012. The report went on to say: ‘Child
childrenscommissioner.gov.uk· Fact checking claims about child poverty | Children's Commissioner for England

How we checked

We reviewed 2 relevant sources.

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