Handout photograph issued by HM Treasury of the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak visiting Tachbrook Market in Westminster on the first day open-air markets reopened after the coronavirus lockdown restrictions were eased in England. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday June 1, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus. Photo credit should read: Simon Walker/HM Treasury/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak visits a market in Westminster (Picture: PA)

More than one million more people could be plunged into poverty by the end of the year because of coronavirus, a new report has warned.

The number of children in poverty could jump by 200,000, taking the total to 4.5 million, according to analysis by the IPPR think tank.

Urgent action is needed to protect families from the financial hardship caused by the pandemic, the report urged.

People who’ve been recently forced to rely on Universal Credit will experience a major hit to their living standards, which will be particularly damaging for households with high rents as a proportion of their incomes, or with debts and low levels of savings, the IPPR said.

Even for many parents with jobs, returning to work is difficult or impossible while schools and childcare are only taking selected pupils, and are open irregular hours, it was warned.

IPPR called on the Government to include measures to support children and families as part of its planned economic stimulus package this summer.

epa08369310 Food donations inside a warehouse at Pecan food bank in London, Britain, 17 April 2020. Foodbanks have become an essential front-line service in the fight against Coronavirus. With untold numbers of people loosing their jobs and waiting for payments from Universal Credit emergency food deliveries are helping families and the vulnerable get through difficult times. The British government has announced a further three week lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Countries around the world are taking increased measures to stem the widespread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 disease. EPA/ANDY RAIN
More or more Brits will be forced to turn to food banks in the months to come (Picture: EPA)

Clare McNeil of the IPPR said: ‘This analysis shows that hundreds of thousands of families and their children who may have been ‘just about managing’ before Covid now face being plunged into poverty.

‘The Government must apply the same level of ambition it had for supporting businesses and workers in the early stages of this crisis, to prevent a new generation of children and their families falling into poverty through no fault of their own.

‘The Chancellor must include in this summer’s stimulus a package of measures to support families alongside funding for physical infrastructure and job creation.

‘This should include removing the Universal Credit austerity measures, supporting family and carer incomes and investing in childcare to open up more options for parents to return to work.’

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: ‘We’re committed to supporting the most vulnerable in society throughout the current emergency and beyond.

‘We have injected £6.5 billion into the welfare system, including increasing Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by up to £1,040 a year, to help those in most need. We’ve also rolled out income protection schemes, mortgage holidays and additional support for renters.

‘This builds on action already taken to support low paid families such as raising the living wage, uplifting benefits by inflation and increasing work incentives.’

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: ‘It is deeply alarming that in an already parlous situation, this report forecasts that an enormous number of children will be thrown into poverty by Christmas.

‘This is in addition to the 4.2 million children living in poverty in the UK in 2018/19, which equals nine children in every class of 30.

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