Long-term consequences of cost-of-living crisis
27 February 2024
It’s shocking that seven in ten children experiencing poverty are living in working households.
At the beginning of PlaceShapers campaigning on the cost-of-living crisis, I went to Downing Street as part of a coalition led by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation calling on the Government to fix the cost-of-living crisis.
A year on from the anniversary of the Guarantee Our Essentials campaign, the crisis is less centre stage in the media but the impact still as harsh.
Yes there have been positives. The increase to the Local Housing Allowance rate will help to ease pressure on low income households who aren’t fortunate enough to live in affordable housing, which we need much more of. It's important this support continues in coming years.
And while it’s positive that inflation has come down and benefits will be uprated from April, the cost-of-living crisis and its compounded effects are still with us.
I remain seriously concerned about the long-term physical and mental health impacts of poverty especially on children, who are still going hungry in this country. Poverty in childhood has been shown to have lasting long-term effects on growth, development and health into adulthood.
Free breakfast clubs and free school meals should be more widely available. I do think there may be lack of awareness about the benefit cap and how this can leave households without the basics. Education and awareness about this should be improved along with the taper for those in work being improved to alleviate in-work poverty.
It’s shocking that seven in ten children experiencing poverty are living in working households. It's equally shocking how much that figure has increased in the last year alone - up to 71% from 65%.
Deductions from benefits should be paused until an ‘Essentials Guarantee’ can be put into place.
Those who are out of work work due to various factors are sometimes face a support system that doesn't provide the essentials; an ‘essentials guarantee’ for these households is particularly important.
Housing associations like Raven Housing are doing all they can to support residents in the cost-of-living crisis but the Government must do more to protect those whose lives are being damaged by it.
I fully support the ‘Guarantee Our Essentials’ campaign.
