Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
4 MILLION KIDS ‘ARE LIVING IN POVERTY’
Toll up 500k in 5yrs as working families struggle, says charity
South East London. He said: “It was heartbreaking to speak to some of the people who have had to turn to foodbanks.
“For so many it only takes one bit of bad luck – an unexpected expense, a health issue or a delay in benefits to bring everything tumbling down.”
Some 98% of Britons are unaware of the extent of UK poverty and hunger.
Research by the Trussell Trust – the country’s largest provider of foodbanks has found families need its help more in December than at any other time in the year.
So we are asking readers to back our End Hunger, Feed a Family Christmas appeal for the charity.
It needs money to pay for emergency food, help with storage costs and petrol for vans to deliver parcels.
It is also seeking more volunteers to cope with the spiralling demand. ANOTHER 500,000 children have been plunged into poverty in the past five years to take the UK’S tally of shame to 4.1 million.
An increasing number of parents are trapped in low-wage jobs, charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation warns.
And its report reveals the total number of people in poverty stands at 14.3 million – or 22% of the population. Of these, 8.2 million are working-age adults and 1.9 million are pensioners.
Chief executive Campbell Robb said: “We are seeing a rising tide of child poverty as more parents are unable to make ends meet, despite working. It means families are trapped in impossible situations. It’s time for us to decide what kind of country we want to be.”
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Margaret Greenwood said the report should be a wake-up call, adding: “There is something wrong when the number of people in work in poverty is increasing faster than employment.”
The National Housing Federation’s Kate Henderson said housing shortages are a major driver, adding: “Building affordable homes must remain at the top of the political agenda.”
UNDENIABLE
And Child Poverty Action Group’s Alison Garnham urged the Government to act on the “undeniable” evidence. She said: “The case for ending the freeze on benefits and bringing them back in line with inflation has cross-party support. If we are concerned with children’s life chances, now is the time to do this.”
The JRF’S stark findings come as the Mirror launches its End Hunger, Feed a Family Christmas appeal to aid foodbanks provider the Trussell Trust.
A family is classed as being in “relative poverty” if income is less than 60% of the median after housing costs, income tax, council tax and other deductions. For a couple with two children, this is £413 a week. For a single parent with two kids it is £306 and for a single person with no kids it is £148.
But the Government uses “absolute poverty”, which fixes the line as 60% of median income in 2010/11 and only increases it in line with inflation – not average incomes. The JRF’S Helen Barnard said this is “rather outdated”.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “We disagree with this report and there are now one million fewer people living in absolute poverty since 2010, including 300,000 children.”
It is difficult to compare poverty rates between countries but a study ranked us 19th for poverty out of the 38 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development members.