It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Bone, in a debate on one of the most important issues facing our country. We Members of Parliament will rarely debate anything as pertinent and pressing as child poverty.
We already know that the rich list has come out this week and shown that the wealth of the richest of our society has increased exponentially while tens of thousands of families saw their income slashed. I must disagree with many Members today—this is a political issue. Among the figures which stood out in the rich list was the fact that the UK’s richest person, Sir Leonard Blavatnik, saw his wealth increase by £7.2 billion last year to some £23 billion, in the same period that 4.3 million children languished in poverty. It is not just the lack of money in the pocket, it is the terrible stigma of child poverty. The fact that one individual can gain so much wealth so quickly while millions exist in abject poverty is frankly obscene and reminiscent of Dickensian levels of poverty from a bygone era which has no place in modern Britain.
Even more harrowing is the fact that these levels of poverty are not just the result of Brexit or the covid-19 pandemic. Figures released in March by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation show that poverty among children had been a rising trend for six years prior to the terrible pandemic: 31% of all children growing up in poverty, an increase of 600,000 since 2013-14. In my borough of Haringey, huge levels of inequality are in sharp focus—an increase of 1,748 kids becoming eligible for school meals since the autumn, adding to the total number of over 8,000 or 20% of all children. In the same report, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reported that three-quarters of children growing up in poverty are from a working family.
What is the solution? First, the living wage should be paid by all employers who can afford it. Why cannot the big supermarkets pay the living wage, whether £10.85 in London or £9.50 outside London? Secondly, we need more controls over ever-rising energy prices in our homes. We should keep transport affordable. Why should water bills keep going up month after month? Let us keep them below inflation.
The most expensive childcare in Europe is in the UK. Discretionary housing payment cuts mean people go into unnecessary debt. There is more debt around unaffordable buy-now pay-later schemes which are promoted all over the place, without any control on their advertising.
I am disappointed that the Government have done away with the industrial strategy. We need growth in the economy, higher wages, and more provision of universal things. The reason everyone loves the NHS is because it is universal. Let us bring in universal school meals, as my hon. Friend the Member for Cynon Valley (Beth Winter) mentioned. Let’s bring in universal housing, where we can, and really address the issue with some energy.
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