As many as one in two children live below breadline
Half a million more kids than in 2010 are raised in families without enough to live on, according to a charity. In places, more than half of all children face hardship.
“In many areas growing up in poverty is not the exception, it’s the rule,” said Anna Feuchtwang, Chair of the End Child Poverty Alliance.
“And more children are expected to get swept up in poverty in the coming years, with serious consequences for their life chances.”
She blamed benefit cuts and rising housing costs and called on the government to act. Areas such as Tower Hamlets and Hackney in London, and Blackburn and Manchester in North West England, were hardest hit.
Wales was recently revealed to have the lowest earnings in the UK. One charity worker told ITN people come to their Blaenau Gwent project without shoes and hungry. “They eat a pack of Doritos to last them a day,” said Rachel Carter from StreetGames.
“There’s one in three children in Wales living in poverty. Something’s not right, obviously.”
Quids in! Says
This isn’t news to many Quids in! readers but it’s good when we’re struggling to know we’re not alone. It’s time the government woke up to the hardship in our neighbourhoods.
