Three East London boroughs had the highest rates of child poverty in England, with Hackney coming in second.
At council level, the highest child poverty rates in England were found in East London(Image: Ralf Geithe via Getty Images)
Data has revealed that London has England’s highest levels of child poverty and most extreme concentrations of hardship. The figures showed that an estimated 38 per cent of children were in relative poverty.
At the council level, the highest child poverty rates in England were found in three inner-city boroughs in East London: Tower Hamlets (50.3 per cent), Hackney (50.1) and Newham (44.9). When measuring by parliamentary constituency, child poverty rates were the highest in Hackney North and Stoke Newington at 60.2 per cent.
Workers at Hackney Foodbank are not surprised to see these figures as they have seen a ‘300 per cent increase’ in their demand since the pandemic. Jenna Fansa has seen that increase first-hand and believes that, at the heart of the issues facing families in Hackney, are high rents, insufficient Universal Credit, and rising living costs.
Jenna told MyLondon: “The latest poverty figures aren’t a surprise. Things have definitely worsened. Poverty is deep, and demand for our foodbank is 300 per cent higher than it was before the pandemic. Rent is definitely the biggest issue [facing people]. Wages haven’t kept up with inflation. We already knew that we had the second-highest level of child deprivation in London.
Hackney Foodbank have seen parents go without food so that their child could eat(Image: Chris Lacey Photography)
“We’ve got people who can’t afford the essentials: hygiene products, food, the cost of keeping their homes warm, all those things we might take for granted. Rent is too high. We often meet parents who go without food so their children can eat, or we meet children who skip school because they can’t afford the cost of trips.
“All of this has a big impact on mental health and well-being. People are living in tremendously stressful situations, not knowing how they are going to put food on the table from one day to the next, and that is bound to have an impact on mental health.”
Hackney FoodBank has launched a No Child Left Hungry Campaign to raise £50,000 towards the cost of emergency food for children. They have seen the effects of child poverty on families and have launched this campaign to help those in need. As Jenna is on the frontline with 17 other full-time staff members, spending time in food banks alongside over 200 volunteers, she has heard first-hand from parents about their experiences.
Since opening in 2012, they have distributed over 864,632kg of food and household items to people in crisis or trapped in poverty in Hackney.
Hackney Foodbank has seen a ‘300%’ increase in demand for its services since the pandemic (Image: Hackney Foodbank )
One story of a mother who went through winter with no fridge because it stopped working and was forced to put food on the balcony to keep it cold. Another mother was housed on the 11th floor of a block of flats where the lift wasn’t working, so she couldn’t take her children down the stairs in a double buggy, meaning they couldn’t go to school.
“The bottom line is that we need more quality housing for people, but there isn’t enough affordable housing in Hackney. It’s a shame that we live in one of the wealthiest cities in the world, yet we have children who are going hungry or are sleeping without beds. That’s a real shame. Hackney has always had a mix of people, but you have five-million-pound houses next to council estates. It is really shocking that in an area where houses sell for up to £2 million pounds, we have families who can’t afford to eat”, Jenna added.
Tyler Munson is a mum of two girls in Hackney. She said: “The girls and I are experiencing hardship. Before the food bank started helping me, there were days when I’d go hungry so I could eat. I do a big shop and batch-cook – we don’t have any treats or snacks; there’s hardly enough for two meals a day.
“It’s such hard work mentally and physically to be poor – it’s degrading. We have to do everything the long way round to get by. It does get me down. It’s embarrassing. I want to work – I have my forklift licenses and, before the children arrived, I worked in warehouses. I’ve been applying for work, but there just aren’t enough roles out there.
We’ve been on a waiting list for a bigger, more permanent flat for the past five years, and we could be waiting for years to come. As the girls get bigger, living in a one-bed place is getting harder. We’re having to be very minimalist – I’m chucking out stuff to make room. We have a wardrobe in our living room!
Mayor of Hackney Caroline Woodley has said that they are working with “communities and partners across the borough to tackle the root causes of poverty”(Image: London Borough of Hackney)
Mayor of Hackney, Caroline Woodley, told MyLondon: “We’re working with our communities and partners across the borough to tackle the root causes of poverty and to directly support people with advice, food and hardship funding schemes. We’ve recently announced an extension to our council tax reduction scheme for low-income households, and the Council’s Here to Help scheme is fully focused on supporting residents in need. We will continue to support children via our Children and Family Hubs, breakfast clubs and the Mayor of London’s programme of free school meals.
“The Government’s new investment in housing, rise in minimum wage, national living wage and the lifting of the two child benefit cap will have a significant impact in Hackney. We are united in tackling the housing crisis, and committed to continue building high quality social rent council housing. We also plan to introduce a new generation of rent-controlled homes across the borough for key workers and are constantly looking at ways to help our businesses.
We are listening to people in every corner of Hackney who tell us about the challenges they are facing and will always work to support the most vulnerable as well as offer opportunities, such as our 10 by 10 programme, enabling every child in Hackney to access exciting activities by the age of 10.”
Hackney Foodbank is open Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 2:30pm. You can donate to Hackney Foodbank’s fundraiser here
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