UK Baby Banks' 11% Growth Signals Structural Child Poverty, Not Recovery

UK baby banks distributed 3.5 million items to 400,000 children in 2025, up 11% year-on-year. The surge tracks alongside 4 million children in poverty—London at 38%, England's highest. These informal redistribution networks, which bypass welfare bureaucracy, now absorb material hardship that formal policy has failed to address. The growth rate suggests entrenchment rather than recovery.