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I was on my way home from the shop yesterday lunchtime when something on the radio caught my attention. They were talking about how it’s going to be a struggle for food banks in Kent over the summer holidays. Sadly, I imagine this will also be the case elsewhere in the UK. I’ve written about child poverty before and how it can have an impact on children’s health. As I’ve said before, I can’t believe that child poverty still exists in our country.
Collaborative Post¦ According to the most recent government statistics, over 14 million people in the UK are currently living below the poverty line. That’s more than one in five of us. To put it into context, that’s twice the number of people who are left handed, and three times the number that are vegetarian.
How strange, then, that while being a “leftie” (from a dexterity perspective – no politics here!) or a veggie are common topics of discussion, poverty is the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about. 14 million is too big a number to ignore, though, so if you’re struggling to make ends meet, perhaps it’s time to face the challenge head on.
Last Tuesday, Autumn and I both had what was probably a once in a lifetime experience. We were asked to attend a (non blog related) event with Family Action. The VIP guest was none other than our future Queen, the Duchess of Cambridge!
This was a very exciting prospect for me, as I’ve always followed her in the media and found her very likeable. However, I was also looking forward to helping Family Action to express various perinatal mental health issues and just how necessary their support is.
As both a mother and Social Sciences student, I have found the State of Child Health Report 2017, which was published today, concerning. Poverty in the UK and how it affects the issue of children’s health is something I have been studying this academic year and found very interesting.
Although it’s encouraging to read that we are better than the US, how and why is it that we are worse than a lot of other European countries? We have the fifth highest rate of infant mortality in Europe which is extremely worrying and this is much higher in deprived socio-economic groups. As I glance at Autumn asleep peacefully next to me, I feel quite angry that not more is being done to prevent these small, beautiful, innocent babies from dying.