Children living in poverty are starting life ‘with both legs tied together’
According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, more than 5m children are growing up in poverty in the UK - but the issue has a real north-south divide
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.
Today we continue our reporting on the issue of child poverty - an issue that affects Lancashire with greater magnitude than it does most areas.
And we hear that there is still stigma attached to poverty that is still thriving - despite the fact that one in four children in the county is raised in poverty.
A reminder that this is part of The Lead North’s ongoing campaign for the government to take action to lift children out of poverty. It’s at a record high - and kids are missing out on key bits of their childhood as a result.
It’s an issue with a genuine north-south divide and we’ve explored how it impacts parents and children in Lancashire for today’s edition.
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Lancashire briefing
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🚧 Work to alter the road layout in Garstang town centre is getting under way this week – in spite of the fact a public consultation into related new parking restrictions has yet to conclude. Lancashire County Council is installing a so-called ‘build out’ into the road on High Street, near Stoops Weind. The authority says the aim is to deter “inappropriate parking” on the opposite side of the narrow road which can prevent buses from getting through – and has led to operator Stagecoach threatening to withdraw its services from the route.
🅿️ Ambitious plans to build almost 400 new homes on the outskirts of Preston City Centre appear to have been put on long-term hold. Permission was granted for the redevelopment of the former Horrocks Mill site, off Queen Street, in December 2023. Preston City Council approved a blueprint from social housing provider Onward Homes for up to 380 dwellings – a mix of townhouses and apartments – to be created on the derelict plot. At the planning committee meeting where the proposal was given the green light, the agent acting on behalf of the application said it was hoped that “with a fair wind”, building work would begin during 2025. However, not only has that ambition not come to fruition, but now Onward has submitted a bid for the land to continue being used as a temporary car park.
Children living in poverty in Lancashire are starting life ‘with both legs tied together’
By Simon Drury
“There’s a stigma about being poor, there always has been, but now you are looked down on more than ever if you can’t make ends meet and give your kids the things they need.”
Thirty two-year-old mum-of-three Maria is not surprised that Lancashire has one of the worst rates of child poverty in the UK.
One-in-four children in the county are living in poverty.
And she knows from bitter experience that the problem is getting worse.
Maria - not her real name - from Blackburn has seen the situation worsen over the last decade since the birth of her eldest daughter.
She said: “You see it at the school gates. The children who have gone to bed hungry the night before and have had nothing for breakfast look tired and pale.
“What chance have they got to succeed in life? It’s like they are starting a race with both legs tied together. Schools offer breakfast clubs but a lot of the children are too ashamed to go to them. They don’t want to be called ‘tramps’ and ‘scruffs’ by the other kids.
“If it was just me, on my own, struggling, I could bear it. But I look at my children and feel like I’m letting them down - not giving them the start in life they deserve. It’s not just that we can’t afford things like holidays and expensive presents, it’s also that I have to buy the cheapest food I can find and even a treat like McDonald’s takes weeks of saving money.”
According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, more than 5m children are growing up in poverty in the UK - a rise of more than one million since 2010.
Definitions of poverty vary from one place to another. However, it is often defined as not having enough income for a person’s basic needs such as heating a home, paying rent and buying food, clothes and other essentials for children.
A spokesperson for the foundation said: “In the context of rising rates of poverty and a cost-of-living crisis it is making it increasingly difficult for many families to manage on a day-to-day basis.
“Research shows poverty can impact parenting capacity in material ways such as struggling to provide adequate housing and an inability to provide the basics like food and clothing. It can also affect parents in psychological ways such as experiencing additional stress and fragile mental health. Poverty harms children’s health, social and emotional wellbeing, and education.
“Children may go to bed hungry or sleep on a mattress on the floor because there is no money for a bedframe.
“It can mean them missing out on everyday fun and activities because family outings are too expensive and being excluded from going out with friends due to a lack of money.
“Children growing up in poverty on average do less well in education. Gaps open very early before they even start formal education at school. This has an impact on levels of longer-term educational attainment and job opportunities in later life.
“Of the 57,622 children living below the poverty line in Lancashire, three quarters of them have a working parent.”
Pendle in the east of the county has the highest national rates of child poverty.
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