Your say / Child Poverty
‘Child poverty is becoming a massive problem in Bristol’
Most people living in Bristol and the surrounding areas are unaware of the staggering statistics about child poverty. Child poverty is a massive deal in the Bristol area – more than one in four children in Bristol are living in child poverty and struggle on a daily basis to eat three set meals a day.
In some places the numbers go up to one in every other child struggling in poverty. More than half of the children living in Bristol, 51 percent, come from families who fight to feed their kids and provided them with the care they need.
Sam Royston, chairman of End Child Poverty and director of policy and research at the Children’s Society said: “It is scandalous that a child born in some parts of the UK now has a greater chance of growing up in poverty than being in a family above the breadline.
is needed now More than ever
“No family in modern Britain should be struggling to put food on the table, heat their homes and clothe their children.”
Child poverty keeps growing as the wealth gap in the city grows larger. Bristol has one of the highest rates for child poverty despite being one of the biggest places to work in the UK.
In cities, it is known that have all children have more access to higher education but when it comes to applying – not all get in. For example, Bristol and Southampton both have prestigious universities, but only one in 60 disadvantaged young people from those cities goes to a highly-selective university.
The most heart-breaking part of child poverty is that it its getting so common that people see it and find it normal. Many businesses and organisations are doing all they can to help, but need a lot more support to concur the problem.
For more information, visit end child poverty at www.endchildpoverty.org.uk
Libby Hamilton is a Year 10 student at Oasis Academy Bridgestowe currently completing work experience at Bristol24/7
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