Merton Council is set to develop a comprehensive child poverty strategy, aligning with the government's national initiative slated for Autumn 2025. The new strategy will build upon the 2023-2025 Cost of Living Strategy and Action Plan, and align with the national strategy's four core areas: increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience, and better local support.

The decision was made at a Health and Wellbeing Board meeting on Thursday 18 September 2025, where officials discussed the framework for the new strategy. The national strategy will focus on increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience, and improving local support.

In Merton, the percentage of children in relative poverty before housing costs in 2024 was 13.3%, lower than the London average of 17.8%. Despite this, Merton has the third-highest child poverty rates in South West London, following Croydon and Wandsworth.

The council aims to address local needs by leveraging local strengths, services, infrastructure, and partnerships. This includes building on existing progress in areas such as the expansion of free childcare, Family Hubs, plans to increase the supply of affordable homes, early years, educational and adult education provision, and the delivery of the 2023 – 2025 Cost of Living Strategy and Action Plan. The Cost of Living Action Plan tackled the cost of living crisis through acting on: Food Insecurity, Energy Efficiency and Homes, Finance, Benefits and Debt, Jobs and Skills, and The Next Generation.

The strategy will include:

  • A comprehensive needs assessment to identify characteristics, trends, strengths, and gaps.
  • Mapping existing support services for children in poverty.
  • Coordinating with related strategic and service developments.
  • Engaging with children and families experiencing poverty to inform strategy and action planning, particularly those experiencing multiple factors that may affect poverty and outcomes. This is detailed in the report Developing a Child Poverty Strategy for Merton.
  • Partnering with organisations to learn from effective approaches.
  • Reviewing evidence from organisations like the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), and the Early Intervention Foundation and compare with other local authorities to learn from effective interventions, as stated in the report Developing a Child Poverty Strategy for Merton.
  • Developing a local action plan with clear multi-agency goals, and progress will be monitored and reported to the Children's Trust Board, according to the report Developing a Child Poverty Strategy for Merton.

The council's approach will align with the national strategy's priorities, focusing on increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience, and improving local support. The Merton strategy will build upon existing efforts, including the expansion of free childcare and the delivery of the 2023–2025 Cost of Living Strategy and Action Plan.

The council plans to complete the needs assessment, evidence review, and service mapping by December, with strategy and action plan development to follow from January 2026. Further updates will be provided to the Children and Young People's Partnership and the Health and Wellbeing Board.