By Prerna Kumar and Bradley Bennette
Child poverty is an ongoing struggle that has been intensified by the cost-of-living crisis. More and more children are relying on food banks and many young people are going hungry because their families can’t afford to feed them.
End Child Poverty is a coalition of charities and activist groups who are committed to change things, and for many campaigners the fight is personal.
Sophie Balmer, 19, is an End Child Poverty campaigner and a student at Leeds University. Growing up, her mum was a nurse and the family struggled to make the ends meet. She also saw others struggle in her school and community, which lead her to activism.
Cost of living crisis will impact a whole generation
The current crisis, Balmer notes, will have a long term effect and will shape the future generation, who will struggle even more than their parents and “won’t be able to afford to go to university, and there will be increased stress and anxiety.”
Working with Balmer is Liv Eren, 19, also a campaigner and a student at Durham University. Together, they have countless heartbreaking stories of poverty and misery, from children pretending to have food in their empty lunch boxes to avoid embarrassment to the lack of essentials: “All this kid wanted from Santa was a pair of school shoes.”
Emotional support is just as important
Both Eren and Balmer were panellists yesterday at London Met Journalism’s Cost-of-Living Crisis newsweek. They talked about their work in educating the public about child poverty, and providing children and families with the necessities.
But it’s not just the material goods and money – the cost of living crisis has also severely damaged young people’s mental health. Eren says: “Research from the all party group shows that long NHS waiting lines combined with poor mental health can lead to long term impacts.”
Balmer adds that her mother recently quit her job as a nurse because of gruelling working conditions and low pay, and supporting her family emotionally has been a crucial part of her life.
All children should have the basics they need to learn
The No Child Left Behind campaign, which fights to ensure that every child has the basics they need to learn, has introduced the Free School Meals for All Bill in Parliament with Zarah Sultana MP. The bill, which “would ease the pressure for every family, and help ensure every child has the basics to learn, grow and thrive” has recently been delayed by the Parliament.
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