Autumn Budget 2025 Statement

Now the Autumn Budget is here, the stakes for families facing hygiene poverty have never been higher.

The government’s decision to scrap the two-child benefit cap is a vital first step, more families may finally receive support for all their children. We are also delighted to see the introduction of new VAT relief for businesses donating products to people going without, something we have been campaigning on for a long time. However,  with income-tax thresholds frozen until 2031, and rents and living costs continuing to rise, many low- and middle-income households will still be pushed closer to crisis.

At In Kind Direct, we see the reality every day. Four children in every classroom are living in hygiene poverty, unable to access basics like toothpaste, shampoo or period products. When essential products are out of reach, confidence, attendance and wellbeing all suffer, long before a family turns to a food bank.

We reach over half a million people each week with essential items, yet more families are being forced to choose between soap or food, deodorant or heating. Hygiene poverty isn’t a side issue, it’s the silent crisis before the bigger one.

Scrapping the two-child cap should have always been the baseline. The government must now go further to:

• Lift the freeze on tax thresholds

• Reinforce the benefits system

• Deliver a Child Poverty Strategy that includes hygiene essentials, not just food

No child should go to school without toothpaste. No one should miss work or education because they can’t afford period products or shampoo.

This Budget didn’t end the problem, it only changed the terms. We want to see everyone’s quality of life increase, and resist the notion that if one group received support, it must be at the expense of another. We will continue to work with government to identify opportunities that can benefit families, charities and businesses, so all of society thrives.

Together with Hygiene Bank, we are calling on policy-makers, partners and the public to join us to ensure no-one in our communities is left without the essentials everyone needs to be clean and well. Join us!