‘We’re all in this together’? The hidden costs of poverty, recession and austerity policies on Britain’s poorest children

In 2010, in the UK a new Coalition government inherited an ailing economy at a time of economic uncertainty and recession. Their response was to institute a fundamental revision and retrenchment of government spending accompanied by unprecedented cuts in welfare services and social security provision. This article explores the nature and meaning of these changes from a child-centred perspective, to understand how and in what ways policy change and welfare retrenchment may uniquely impinge on low-income children's lives. It reveals that recent cuts and welfare changes have threatened to overlook their needs and exacerbate their deepest concerns.