Labour ministers are understood to be ruling out any potential axe to the controversial two-child benefit cap, which limits the amount families receive from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Under the policy, child tax credit and Universal Credit payments are restricted to the first two children in most households.
Leading charities have written to the Prime Minister urging him to scrap the two-child benefit cap, warning that child poverty could reach its highest level since records began if action isn't taken.
The coalition of organisations, including Child Poverty Action Group, Citizens Advice and Save the Children UK, have called for "personal leadership" from the PM to tackle rising child poverty.
Keir Starmer is being warned that 300,000 children face 'deep poverty' as a result of the benefit cap
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They warn that without scrapping the two-child limit, child poverty will rise significantly by the end of this parliament. Meanwhile, Labour sources have privately indicated the Government has no plans to abolish the policy.
"If they still think we're going to scrap the cap then they're listening to the wrong people," one Government source told the Guardian. The source added that the cap remains "popular with key voters, who see it as a matter of fairness".
The charities' letter warns that without scrapping the two-child limit, child poverty will jump from 4.5 million currently to 4.8 million by 2029. This would mark the highest level since records began.
Signatories, some of whom have supported the government's Child Poverty Taskforce, argue that the two-child limit "pushes more and more children into poverty every day".
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The Government is pledging to keep the two-child benefit cap in place
PAThey also criticise the benefit cap for pushing "300,000 children into deep poverty at a time when their parent's capacity to work is limited.
The letter states: "Ensuring that fewer children are in poverty at the end of this parliamentary term than at the start will require a direct investment in family incomes via the social security system."
Charities insist that neither policy is "compatible with the ambition to raise living standards." Government sources have told charities and Labour MPs concerned about benefit cuts to "read the tea leaves" over the party's plans.
The message comes despite warnings that Labour could become the first government to leave office with child poverty higher than when it entered.
"We're simply not going to find a way to do that," a Government source said regarding scrapping the two-child cap.
Said organisations have highlighted that an "ambitious and properly resourced strategy" to tackle child poverty would support the government's aims to "break down barriers to opportunity" and "improve school readiness".
They argue there can be "no road to sustainable national growth unless child poverty reduces at scale and at pace". The charities have called on the Prime Minister to demonstrate his personal commitment to reducing child poverty.
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KEIR STARMER"We look to your personal leadership to deliver this change and to direct the full weight of your government into reducing child poverty with urgency," the letter states.
They emphasise the need for "investment in family incomes, ambitious targets, and a public narrative about why it matters so much to your vision for the country".
The organisations acknowledge "strong leadership" from the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Education, along with "thorough engagement" from the Child Poverty Unit.
However, they stress that as the spending review concludes and the child poverty strategy publication approaches, "the opportunity to deliver the real change that children, families and the country needs must now be taken".
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