Refugee and Migrant Children
Children in migrant and refugee families face a disproportionately high risk of poverty and destitution. This is largely driven by government immigration and asylum policies, which restrict household income, raise essential living costs, and limit families’ ability to reduce the impact of poverty and material hardship.
United Impact
United Impact, a solidarity and action group supported by 4in10 member Project 17, have made an animation with Brickwall, to show some of the layers of the extremely harmful impact of the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) immigration condition, on families in the UK.
‘No recourse to public funds (NRPF) is a condition attached to visa conditions for many migrants. It restricts access to most benefits, including universal credit and child benefit. Not all those with NRPF will be in poverty, many are not, but the inability to access the welfare safety net if they fall on hard times, leaves some families struggling to make ends meet, dealing with debts, homelessness and poor housing conditions, and cutting back on heating and food.
The number of households with NRPF at risk of destitution is disproportionately large in London due to the greater proportion of the population who are non-UK born and the higher cost-of living in the city. Analysis of data by the Centre for Policy Studies found that 120,000 households in London are subject to the NRPF condition and are at risk of destitution and may need support for temporary periods and that 36,900 households are in poverty in London while being subject to the NRPF (Centre for Social Policy, 2024).
Some families facing destitution are able to seek limited help from their local authority but many do not receive it as the threshold is high and often conditional and/or they are too fearful of the repercussions of asking for help. It is also possible for to apply for a ‘Change of Conditions’ to remove NRPF condition, however, the process of applying is not well-understood, complex and usually requires legal advice and support to be successful.
Asylum-seeking families with children are unable to access welfare benefits, while parents generally have no right to work in the UK. Families instead rely on below poverty level subsistence payments from the Home Office under the Asylum Support system.
Nationally, this affected over 15,500 children receiving Asylum Support at the end of 2022. London currently has a high ratio of asylum seekers to population due to the presence of many asylum seekers in hotels. Before hotel use became common from around 2020 onwards, comparatively few asylum seekers were housed in London (House of Commons Library, 2026).
Calls to Action
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The Government must urgently review, with a view to removing, NRPF conditions for families with children and allow families to access childcare support for working families on an equal footing.
The Government must increase asylum support weekly rates so that they provide equitable subsistence support that reflects child-centred and disability-related benefits.
The Government should give permission to work for asylum-seekers waiting on their claim for 6 months.
The Government must not go ahead with proposals to double the length of time most people need to wait before applying for settlement or indefinite leave to remain from five to ten years, as this would drive up child poverty rates.
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If there are no substantial changes to national policy, the GLA should explore how it could fill the gap by providing funding for support for families with NRPF via Children Act provisions.
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Local authorities should apply Section 17 support consistently and proactively families with NRPF and establish clear protocols and processes between child protection, housing and NRPF teams. They should also ring-fence funding within local welfare assistance schemes for NRPF families to ensure they can access emergency support.
