Around half of Newham’s children are victims of a poverty crisis and their plight is likely to worsen in the wake of the cost of living crisis, warn anti-poverty campaigners.

Newham Safeguarding Children Partnership estimates that around 20,000 youngsters across the Borough live in poverty, that’s about half of all Newham’s children, compared to 37 per cent in the typical London borough, according to research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

But as we await the latest figures from the End Child Poverty Coalition, local campaigners believe this may be even higher as the COVID-19 pandemic and the fallout from rising living costs has left poorer Newham families struggling.

“Levels of child poverty in London boroughs are shockingly high,” said Coalition coordinator Rachel Walters.

“Our data shows that in 2019/2020 half the children came from homes which may not be able to afford the basics; such as a warm coat or regular meals. Sadly, this figure dates from before the pandemic and the cost of living crisis, which we fear will have further increased poverty levels.”

Save the Children estimates that living standards in the UK have plummeted for the poorest families with over a third reporting that they are worse off since lockdown and with the households claiming universal credit or working tax credits, where nearly two thirds had run up debts.

“Child poverty levels in London are terrible because the cost of housing is so high, and wages or benefit payments don’t always cover these costs. Families then struggle to afford other essentials for their children,” said Walters.

During the lock-down when schools were shut down, the council’s free school meals knocking on low-income families’ doors was the only option for many.

Now Newham’s network of food banks is under increasing pressure. The East Ham Renewal programme has reported that since February, a total of 1137 individuals and families received support from their food bank, with demand increasing due to the rising cost of living.

It’s the same story for many other food banks across the Borough as high unemployment, rising costs and low household incomes are having a dramatic impact on people’s lives.

“I get free school meals from my school because my parents are divorced and my mum is on maternity leave, so she is out of employment,” one 15-year-old girl told Newham Voices.

“During the lockdowns we got food delivered, but you couldn’t make a meal out of it. It was like cereal, yoghurt and apples. It was horrible. We’ve been receiving one meal for me every two weeks, when they [schools] were supposed to deliver it every week. They also gave us £30 vouchers, only once every two weeks.”

Another local resident, Catherine is a full-time mother of five, living with her partner and children in a two-bedroom flat on the 5th floor of a tower block. As asylum seekers, they have little access to public funds and they cannot work due to their resident status. It has been tough for Catherine’s family. A cold winter was followed by a long and hungry Easter break with no public support.

(Catherine’s child, Damian is receiving hospital treatment for a range of illnesses and has been the subject of an appeal for special support. For donations contact James: james@miraclesthecharity.org)

Feed London, a project run by the charity Miracles provided them with Feed London’s food box on the first day of the holidays to fill Catherine’s fridge, including the supermarket vouchers for essentials.

Local MP Sir Stephen Timms, recently knighted in the Jubilee Honours List, guided the Child Poverty Act through Parliament.

He told Newham Voices that there is no longer a legal obligation to eradicate child poverty following the coalition government decision to scrap the Child Poverty Act targets in 2015.

“We need to increase benefits,” said Timms. “At the moment, with inflation rocketing, benefits are lower in real terms than at any time in the last 30 years. We have recommended that no family with children should be left without recourse to public funds for longer than five years – at the moment, it’s often ten years.”

Rachel Walters says urgent increases in benefits are needed. “We are calling for benefit payments to rise with inflation. This will ensure people receiving benefit payments can afford the essentials such as food and clothes for their families.”

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