The poorest places in Birmingham to be a kid - and why we need to rise up
Is Labour promising enough to end child poverty?
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I’ve been on the general election trail for the past week or so, whizzing around Birmingham’s ten constituencies to interview candidates, chat with locals and get a feel for the big issues. I underestimated the scale of my task - but it’s all coming together. Starting Thursday, look out for bonus editions of the newsletter covering every constituency’s election battles - from Sutton Coldfield to Northfield, Ladywood to Perry Barr and all points in between.
I’d really like it if you’d tell as many people as you know to sign up to take advantage of this largesse. If you’re a paying subscriber (and one in five of you are, which is just brilliant, thank you!) you’ll get extended versions, and every spit and cough from the campaign trail (not literally obvs) but there will be plenty for all to get their teeth into. I’ve also got some ideas brewing to bring our subscriber community together more regularly in two-way conversation - watch this space!
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It’s also the last day today to register to vote in the Election. If you think anyone you know needs a nudge, please do it now. Here’s the link.
And one more quick reminder: The Brum Rise Up rally takes place later today (Tuesday). A gathering of hundreds is expected in Victoria Square to protest about Birmingham City Council’s proposed cuts, and I’ll be there with them. Library closures, the loss of adult day care centres, the assault on families with children and adults with special educational needs and the impact of budget cuts in the arts and culture will be the focus of the lobby, taking place before and after a full meeting of Birmingham City Council. The rally starts at 12, the meeting starts at 2.
Below I share some insights from those directly affected - like Jean, whose brother Robert is set to lose the adult day centre that’s been a lifeline for 43 years, and Kate, whose been inspired by her own challenges as a SEND parent to become an activist. Read on for their personal stories, it is so compelling and a must read.
But I’ll kick off today’s newsletter with some shocking child poverty figures - and ask why the Labour Party isn’t planning to do more in Government about the single most shaming issue in our city.
Child poverty fears - why isn’t Labour lifting two child benefit cap?
I’ve been writing about the impact of child poverty on families across Birmingham for years, highlighting the distressing reality lived by thousands of families. The advent of a new Government should be a time of real hope of change for those families - not in five years time, when an education and skills uplift and job promises begin to make a difference, but in weeks, or months. These kids can’t afford to wait.
I’ve been challenging politicians at any opportunity I can get to explain how Labour would be different to the Conservatives on this issue. What are you going to do to make an impact for families dependent on benefits, many of them working families on low incomes? When is a change coming?
New Labour mayor for the West Midlands, Richard Parker, responded to my challenge by pledging to press for the free school meals threshold to be raised so that thousands more children in ‘just about managing’ families would qualify - something which we will hold him to.
But I’ve been troubled to read the Labour Manifesto this week to find so few clear pledges on the issue. With the help of my Reach data unit colleague Annie Gouk, we’ve been crunching the child poverty numbers for the West Midlands and it paints a distressing picture.
First the county-wide stats, which show that last year we had nearly 218,000 children aged nought to 15 living ‘well below the breadline’, even before housing costs are taken out - that’s up nearly 60,000 compared to 2015.
When you look at the numbers by local authority, it won’t surprise you to learn that the overall child poverty rate in Solihull is about 14%, while in Birmingham it’s over 45%.
But it’s when you drill down to a hyperlocal level that the differences become truly stark. Not just that - it’s shameful.
If you’re a child born in Bordesley Green North - part of the Bordesley Green ward - you are highly likely to be living in an impoverished household. Three in four kids, that’s 22 in a class of 30, will be classed as poor. There are plenty more places in the city within touching distance of that abject accolade.
Belchers Lane & Eastfield Road, Birmingham - 73%
Washwood Heath, Birmingham - 73%
Sparkhill North, Birmingham - 69%
Balsall Heath East, Birmingham - 67%
Sparkbrook South, Birmingham - 66%
Small Heath Park, Birmingham - 65%
Aston Park, Birmingham - 64%
Palfrey, Walsall - 64%
Sparkbrook North, Birmingham - 63%
Contrast that with the life that kids born in Dorridge, Solihull, will likely get, where 3% of kids are living below the breadline. Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group and Vice-Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition, said of the data: “In a general election year, nothing should be more important to our political leaders than making things better for the country’s poorest kids. But child poverty has reached a record high, with millions of kids now facing cold homes and empty tummies. We know that change is possible but we need to see a commitment from all parties to scrap the two child limit and increase child benefits. Anything less would be a betrayal of Britain’s children.”
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Is Labour betraying our children then? The party has been light so far on explaining what exactly it will do to end child poverty. It certainly isn’t pledging to lift the two child benefit cap as campaigners hoped.
Labour’s pledges do include a plan to open breakfast clubs in every primary school - at a cost of £315m - bring in mental health counsellors at every school, extend free childcare, bring down the costs of energy and food, make housing more affordable, and protect renters from no fault evictions. All are laudable and vital.
But when the party’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has previously called the cap “obscene and inhumane” and Jonathan Ashworth has called it “heinous”, why no place for it? Labour insiders I speak to insist it’s all a bit of a ploy to ensure that Rishi Sunak can’t attack the party over welfare and taxation, and that it will be lifted once the party is in power - so that’s all right then. As long as your family can hang on in there til whenever that happens.
The two-child benefit cap prevents parents from claiming child tax credit or universal credit for more than two children and was introduced by the Conservative Government in 2017. Data provided by the End Child Poverty Coalition shows that removing the cap would lift 250,000 children across the UK out of poverty.
The Child Poverty Action Group says the economic and societal effects of child poverty, including spending on public services, costs the UK £39 billion every year. MP Liam Byrne, whose Hodge Hill constituency includes many of the poorest neighbourhoods in the city, wrote a book last year focussed on 'The Inequality of Wealth - Why it matters and how to fix it' which drew on his experiences seeing the poverty trap envelop families, and contrasted that with the obscene wealth of the highest earners.
In a community with extreme examples of deprivation, and where large families are common, he believes the two child benefit cap introduced by the Conservative government has condemned more innocent children to growing up poor. The long term impacts of child poverty are well documented but include a failure to thrive, lower educational attainment and, sometimes, physical and emotional impacts that are lifelong.
In a recent interview with me, Byrne said: "We (the Labour Party ) were invented to roll back poverty. I don’t think you can possibly have a Labour government that oversees an increase in the number of people using foodbanks. I don't believe Labour MPs or voters will stand for that...that's why we need to end the two child benefit cap.'
It seems obscene that we punish families who fall on hard times while having more than two children. As one campaigner put it: “We don’t limit access to the NHS to two children per household. Or deny children an education just because they have older siblings. Yet when a family faces tough times, why do we deny a child the support they need to stay fed, housed and healthy, just because they happen to have more than one older brother or sister?”
What do you think? Drop me a comment below if you’re a paying subscriber.
Earlier I mentioned the Brum Rise Up rally happening today. I wanted to bring you a couple of insights from people affected by the council cuts on their way. Do please read on to hear directly from people in our city being hurt by enforced cuts they have done nothing to bring about.
Robert’s Story
Hello. I am Jean, I am 64 years old and care for my brother Robert, who is 62 years old. He has attended Harborne Day Centre for 43 years and is a severely disabled, wheelchair bound user who cannot talk and needs specialist support and 24 hour care.
He attends Harborne Day Centre five days a week for five hours, where he is safe, secure, and looked after by the wonderful staff who know all of his complex needs, giving me some respite. There are parents in their 80s and 90s who are still caring for their loved ones.
The council’s cost cutting proposal for adult social care is to close four adult day centres in Birmingham, two of which have already closed - Heartlands and Beeches GoLDD. The other two earmarked to close are Harborne Day Centre and Fair Ways. Consultations have already started but have been reduced from 10 weeks to 9 weeks.
It will be devastating if our day centre was to close as this is our lifeline which enables us to keep going as care life is very restrictive, especially when you have no outside help.
It costs £19,200 a year to attend the day centre and we contribute £3,000 a year. I have heard some care packages can be in the region of £200,000 - £400,000 per year. If I was to put my brother in residential care, it would cost a minimum £156,000 per year.
It is about time carers were more respected as we prop up and support the health and social care authority. Carers save the government £162 billion a year and we are rewarded with £81.90 carers allowance per week.
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