How Can We Prevent Child Poverty in the UK?
The UK government define poverty as a household earning 60{5be3b6bb4f14701876a5694415d64623961fb2d7646bf5d6c32e19395d44a679} less than the national median income. It tends to affect households with children more than childless ones while over half are households with a disabled member, a single parent and certain ethnic minorities. According to 2016-17 statistics, more than 1 in 4 kids (the equivalent of 4.1 million children) in the UK are growing up in poverty.
Apart from living in inadequate housing, poverty-stricken households don’t have the financial means to cover their other daily needs such as a healthy diet, heating and basic utilities. Their material needs aren’t the only things affected – children often don’t enjoy the simple pleasures that other kids take for granted such as extracurricular activities or day trips with their family.
Child poverty hasbeen proven to have an effect on children’s academic performance as well as their health – both in the short and long term. It has an economic cost for the country too. It has been calculated that it costs the UK government £29 billion a year in providing additional services as well as the cost to the country in lost revenue.
When families are in such dire straits, bad credit short-term …