Poverty and the cost of living

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Child poverty, free school meals, the Cynnal child payment, benefits and the Welsh benefits system, food banks and fuel poverty.

In the Programme for Government this sits under the well-being objective Tackling child poverty and securing the best future for every child in Wales.

ThemesEverything Child poverty Free school meals The Cynnal child payment Benefits Food banks and hardship Fuel poverty and energy bills

Showing the theme Fuel poverty and energy bills. The Programme commitments are the brief's as a whole.

Statements and debates: 5; in the Sixth Senedd
Contributions: 1,912; in the Sixth Senedd
Written questions: 46; in the Sixth Senedd

How often it comes up

May 2021Mar 2026

1,912 contributions in the Sixth Senedd touched on this. The busiest month was Mar 2022, with 213.

Who raises it

Labour65%
Plaid18%
Conservative13%
Lib Dem3%
Independent1%
Reform0%

Share of the 1,520 contributions on this subject, by the speaker's party.

On this page

The debate so far
Where things stand
What the government has promised
From the Welsh Government
In the news
Key moments in the Senedd
Related votes
Who raises it
Who ministers have met
What people say matters
Written questions
Petitions
In committee
Latest contributions
Month by month
How this brief is put together

The debate so far

Since May 2026 the Senedd has debated child poverty more than any other part of this subject. The Plaid Cymru Government has set out a new child poverty strategy, the Cynnal child payment, wider childcare and free school meals for some secondary pupils. Opposition Members have pressed on delivery dates, costings and measurable targets. Fuel poverty, food support and how poverty funding is shared have also been contested.

The main arguments

Sioned Williams (Plaid Cymru) said a new child poverty strategy would set targets and milestones, with a digital dashboard. Jane Dodds (Liberal Democrats), Peter Fox (Conservatives) and Shav Taj (Labour) asked how progress would be published and tracked. Contributions: [1]

Where things stand

Statistics published by the Welsh Government. Each chart covers the years since the 2016 Senedd election, or as far back as the figures go, and marks each election since.

Children in relative poverty

32%

The three years to 31 March 2025

United Kingdom: 28%
A year earlier: 30% (the three years to 31 March 2024)

Wales
United Kingdom

The share of children living in households with less than 60% of the UK median income after housing costs, averaged over three financial years.

From a household survey with a small sample in Wales, so figures are averaged over three years, and the publisher advises caution with changes from one year to the next, which are unlikely to be statistically significant. The publisher plans to revise the figures back to 2012-13 in March 2027.

The line breaks at the three years to 31 March 2023, where the publisher marks a break in the series.

Source: Welsh Government, People living in relative income poverty by age, and country or region of the UK. Accredited official statistics. Checked on 30 October 2026.

Show the figures

Children in relative poverty: every figure in the chart, newest first.
Period	Wales	United Kingdom
The three years to 31 March 2025	32%	28%
The three years to 31 March 2024	30%revised	28%revised
The three years to 31 March 2023	29%break in the series, revised	28%break in the series, revised
The three years to 31 March 2022	28%	30%
The three years to 31 March 2021	31%	30%
The three years to 31 March 2020	31%	30%
The three years to 31 March 2019	28%	30%
The three years to 31 March 2018	29%	30%
The three years to 31 March 2017	28%	29%

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

How we show official statistics Figures on this brief quoted in the Senedd (25)

Month by month

Contributions tagged in each month of the Sixth Senedd. No sittings were held in August 2021, August 2022, August 2023, December 2024, February 2025, March 2025, April 2025, May 2025, June 2025, July 2025, August 2025, September 2025, October 2025, November 2025 and December 2025.

Show the numbers

Month	Contributions
May 2021	2
June 2021	0
July 2021	3
August 2021	No sittings
September 2021	9
October 2021	13
November 2021	7
December 2021	7
January 2022	57
February 2022	174
March 2022	213
April 2022	34
May 2022	44
June 2022	41
July 2022	22
August 2022	No sittings
September 2022	49
October 2022	95
November 2022	59
December 2022	39

How this brief is put together

This brief follows the Programme commitments listed above and tags the record with the phrases below. Keyword matching can miss business that discusses the issue in other words, and can tag a passing mention.

Show the phrases it uses

A contribution is tagged when its English text contains one of these phrases. Capital letters don't matter, except in abbreviations, which must match exactly. It is also tagged when the title of the agenda item or question it was part of contains one, as long as the contribution is at least 30 words long. The brief is also tagged whenever one of its themes is.

Phrases for the brief as a whole

“cost of living”
“cost-of-living”
“poverty”
“low-income households”
“low income households”
“low-income families”
“struggling families”
“social justice”

Child poverty

“child poverty”
“Child Poverty Strategy”
“children living in poverty”
“children in poverty”
“anti-poverty”
“tackling poverty”

Free school meals

“free school meals”
“free school meal”
“universal primary free school meals”
“school uniform grant”
“school essentials grant”
“school meals”

Abbreviations

“PDG”

The Cynnal child payment

“Welsh Child Payment”
“child payment”

Abbreviations

“Cynnal”

Benefits

“universal credit”
“two-child limit”
“two child limit”
“benefit cap”
“winter fuel payment”
“winter fuel payments”
“welfare reform”
“welfare reforms”
“personal independence payment”
“social security”
“Department for Work and Pensions”
“Welsh benefits system”
“Welsh Benefits Charter”
“council tax reduction scheme”
“Local Housing Allowance”
“social tariffs”
“benefit take-up”

Abbreviations

“PIP”
“DWP”

Food banks and hardship

“food bank”
“food banks”
“food poverty”
“food insecurity”
“Discretionary Assistance Fund”
“destitution”
“basic income”
“warm spaces”

Fuel poverty and energy bills

“fuel poverty”
“energy bills”
“energy bill”
“energy prices”
“energy costs”
“heating their homes”
“prepayment meters”

The debate so far

The main arguments

The debate so far

The main arguments

Where the parties stand

Plaid Cymru

Welsh LabourShifted

Reform UK

Welsh Conservatives

Welsh Liberal Democrats

Wales Green Party

What the government is being pressed on

What the public is asking for

Who ministers are meeting

In the Sixth Senedd (2021 to 2026)

Where things stand

Children in relative poverty

What the government has promised

Developing a Welsh welfare system

Breaking the cycle of poverty

Cynnal – the Welsh Child payment

Free school meals

From the Welsh Government

Scotland and Wales: Scrap 'punitive' welfare policies and cut bills

In the news

Key moments in the Senedd

Related votes

LCM on the Energy Bill

Legislative Consent Motion on the Energy Prices Bill

Who raises it

Which parties raise it

Members who raise it most

Who ministers have met

What people say matters

Written questions

Petitions

In committee

Latest contributions

Month by month

How this brief is put together

Phrases for the brief as a whole

Child poverty

Free school meals

The Cynnal child payment

Benefits

Food banks and hardship

Fuel poverty and energy bills