Understanding child poverty in migrant households in the UK

A minority of migrants to the UK arrive through high-income routes (for example Skilled Worker visas), while the majority of migrants are at a higher risk of poverty than their UK-born counterparts (Hughes and Kenway, 2016). This is particularly acute for recent arrivals and for families with children (Vizard et al, 2023). Many such families have 'no recourse to public funds' (NRPF) as a condition attached to their immigration status; at the end of 2022, about 2.6 million people were estimated to be on visas that typically have NRPF, including around 200,000 children (Cuibus and Fernández-Reino, 2023). While all migrants are subject to conditions on their labour market activities, some categories of migrants face additional legal barriers, particularly asylum seekers, temporary workers and students. Children and families whose immigration status is uncertain or irregular are also likely to face significant poverty risks (Sigona and Hughes, 2012), and most families face substantial additional costs from the immigration process itself (Mort et al., 2023; Qureshi & Morris, 2021). The implications for children are potentially serious - for their well-being in the short and long term and also for their future integration into UK society (Dickson, 2019; Leon, 2023; Pinter, 2024), but there is limited knowledge about the prevalence and depth of poverty and material deprivation that they face, and to what extent families on low income are accessing mainstream benefits. This project aims to fill those gaps through analysis of secure-access data from the Family Resources Survey (FRS), thereby helping to inform more effective policy and practice responses.