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A third of Greater Manchester’s children are now living in poverty

The problem is sadly getting worse.
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4 years ago

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According to the latest figures, the number of children living in poverty across Greater Manchester has increased.

Commissioned by the End Child Poverty coalition, new figures from a study at Loughborough University has found that a third of all children across the North West are living below the breadline.

It also shows that child poverty rates across all but just one Greater Manchester borough have increased, and four of the North West’s top 10 increases are found in the city-region boroughs.

The new data reveals the true extent to the hardship experienced by families on low incomes – an overwhelming majority of which were working households before the pandemic, according to the research.

Research shows that children from low-income families are more likely to experience worse physical and mental health, do less well in school, and have fewer opportunities in the future. 

End Child Poverty is calling for an urgent government plan to end child poverty in the country, and for the chancellor to not go ahead with planned cuts to Universal Credit which will see a loss of £1,000 to families. 

The rate in Oldham has risen by 8.1% in the last four years, from 31.8% in 2014 to 39.9% now. Rochdale has seen a 5.3% increase and now stands at 37.7%.

34.8% of Tameside’s children now live in poverty, a 3.4% rise. In Bolton over the past four years, the number of children in poverty has increased from 32.7% to 39%. 

In Bury, more than a third of its children live below the breadline (33.8%).

Salford saw a 2.3% increase, meaning 34.8% are now in poverty and in Wigan the figure is 30.8%. 

Stockport saw the lowest increase at just 0.2%, however, 25.9% of its children are still below the breadline.

In Trafford, there was a 0.9% reduction in the child poverty rates, the figure still stands at 23.1% of children affected.

Des Lynch, of Wood Street Mission in Manchester City Centre said: “In Manchester and Salford, child poverty has never gone away. We’re 151 years old and we’ve been dealing with it in all of that time.

“It’s a subject that has never been tackled by any government, let alone the one we have at the moment.

“The issue comes up in manifestos but then is dispatched into the background.

“While Manchester and Salford outwardly look like affluent areas, if you walk 20 minutes from city centre in any direction, you’ll hit poverty-stricken areas. And that’s only going to get worse in the coming months and years.”

Des added that people aren’t coming forward to get help due to following the Covid rules, adding that the problem is hitting those classed as ‘working poor’ the most.

He said: “People are too scared to access help, they’re sticking to the rules, no matter what is sometimes said out there, they’re trying their best and they don’t know what to do.

“But the poor housing rates, the poor quality of housing in Manchester and Salford, that’s been a problem for some 40 years with housing costs increasing.

“We haven’t been building enough social housing and what we are building isn’t the touching the sides.

“Giving developers permission to build is all well and good, but with the small percentage of social housing required, quite frankly it’s negligible.

“And the knock on effect that has on children, it’s appalling, we should not be bringing children up in these environments.”

The fight to end child poverty and to stop children from experiencing food insecurity has been highlighted in the media over the pandemic, not least due to Marcus Rashford MBE’s efforts.

Over the summer holidays, he made the government U-turn on its decision to not provide free school meals over the summer. This put a stop to ‘Holiday Hunger’ which many of the UK’s children face. 

His new petition calls for free school meals to be available for every child from a household on Universal Credit or equal. This would reach an additional 1.5 million children aged seven to 16. 

However, ministers responded to the campaign on Thursday saying: “It’s not for schools to regularly provide food to pupils during the school holidays.”

Adding: “We took that decision to extend free school meals during the pandemic when schools were partially closed during lockdown. We’re in a different position now with schools back open to all pupils.

“We believe the best way to support families outside of term time is through Universal Credit rather than government subsidising meals.”

Senior Tory MP Rob Halfon, chairman of the Education Select Committee, wrote on Twitter that the government’s response was ‘very disappointing’, adding: “We need a long-term plan to combat child food hunger, especially given 32% of families have had a drop in income since March.”

Sign Marcus Rashford’s petition here.

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Train fares set to increase again in ‘biggest hike’ for a decade

Bad news for commuters…
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3 years ago

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August 18, 2021

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El Pollock / Geograph

Commuters could be facing the steepest rise in the cost of train travel in more than a decade just months after prices were already increased.

It has been predicted today that train prices across England and Wales could rise by nearly 5% before the New Year.

The 2021 rise in prices was delayed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic when train travel was at an all-time low, however, tickets still saw a price rise of 2.6% in March.

Abhijit Tembhekar / Flickr

And this morning, the Retail Prices Index for July 2021 was confirmed as 3.8% by the Office for National Statistics, meaning passengers could see fares rise by 4.8% in 2022, which would be the largest hike since 2012.  

This means that the cost of rail travel could increase twice within ten months, and would see a Manchester-Glasgow off-peak return rise by £6.30 to £94.90, according to Metro.

Though all hope isn’t yet gone – changes to the fares in 2022 are still yet to be confirmed.

Jon David Houghton / Wikimedia Commons

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “No decision has been made on national rail fares.

“The government is considering a variety of options and we will announce our decision in due course.”

This news has come as train travel in Manchester and beyond is on the rise – earlier this month, we reported that zero cases of Covid were found in Manchester Piccadilly Train Station, despite thousands of commuters using the station’s services as offices reopen.

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Comedian Sean Lock has died aged 58

Awful news just in
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3 years ago

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August 18, 2021

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Channel 4

Comedian Sean Lock has passed away at the age of fifty-eight after a battle with cancer, his agent has confirmed today.

A statement from his agent from Off The Kerb Productions said: “It is with great sadness that we have to announce the death of Sean Lock. He died at home from cancer, surrounded by his family.

“Sean was one of Britain’s finest comedians, his boundless creativity, lightning wit and the absurdist brilliance of his work, marked him out as a unique voice in British comedy.

“Sean was also a cherished husband and father to three children. Sean will be sorely missed by all that knew him. We kindly request that the privacy of his family and children is respected at this difficult time.”

Fellow comedians have been posting their own tribute messages since the news was announced. Ricky Gervais wrote: “Such sad news. RIP the great Sean Lock. One of the funniest, most influential comedians of a generation. A lovely man.”

John Bishop posted: “I am shocked and saddened at the news of the loss of Sean Lock. He was a brilliant comedian but more importantly he was a great person on so many levels . He will be missed hugely.”

Sean was best known for his role on Channel 4’s comedy panel show, 8 Out of 10 Cats, where he was panel captain. He appeared on the first eighteen series, opposite team captains including Jason Manford and Jon Richardson.

He also appeared on QI, The Last Leg, Have I Got News for You, and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year.

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UK to welcome more than 20,000 refugees following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan

Reports claim that a number of these refugees will be housed in hotels near Manchester Airport

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3 years ago

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August 18, 2021

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The UK is set to welcome more than 20,000 refugees from Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover of the country.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that 5,000 people will be eligible to be resettled in Britain during the first year of the program, with women and girls given priority status, with the rest to be admitted in the ‘long term’.

Those deemed to be at the highest risk of human rights abuses and dehumanising treatment by the Taliban will also be given priority for settlement. 

The Prime Minister, who will address MPs today on the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan, said: “We owe a debt of gratitude to all those who have worked with us to make Afghanistan a better place over the last twenty years.

“Many of them, particularly women, are now in urgent need of our help. I am proud that the UK has been able to put in place this route to help them and their families live safely in the UK.”

Manchester council leader Sir Richard Leese added that planes carrying people from Afghanistan are expected to land here in Manchester ‘at any moment.’

He said: “They’re on their way. We’re expecting planes to be landing at any moment. We’re certainly not going to turn our back on those people.

“But what we are going to do is to continue to make the case that actually, if we’re really a caring country, we need to make sure we put the proper resources and systems in to be able to support these people very quickly, get them out of hotels and get them into homes.

“We’re definitely not going to be refusing to take people, but we will continue to make the case for proper support.”

Following the departure of American troops on Sunday, the Taliban took over Afghanistan’s capital city Kabul, almost two decades after they were initially defeated by the US. The Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, abandoning the presidential palace to Taliban fighters.

Under the Taliban’s rule, Sharia Law, women and girls are stripped of most basic human rights, including the right to have an education, work, and leave the house without a male relative. While the Taliban have promised to take a more modern approach to their ruling, concern for the safety and wellbeing of Afghan women and girls is still rife.

For more information on how you can help the refugees fleeing Afghanistan, visit the following links:

British Red Cross
UNICEF
AllWeCan.org
United Nation Refugee Agency 
Refugee Council

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