Responding to a call by the Children’s Commissioner today (Thurs
21 Jan 2020) to end child poverty in the UK, Paul Whiteman,
general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:
“School leaders are seeing more and more hardworking families
struggling, and more children living in poverty. An NAHT poll in
2019 showed that 81% of school leaders had seen an increase in
the number of children coming to school hungry in the last five
years, and 75% had seen an increase in the number of parents
coming to school to ask for financial support or support with
essentials. Coronavirus has only exacerbated this and has shown
just how vulnerable many families really are.
“This country’s record on child poverty is truly shocking.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds have disproportionately
suffered from cuts not just to education, but to all the wider
services that should be there to help them. Successive
governments have failed to invest in those who need it the most.
The consequence has been the need to pour money into helping poor
families during this crisis, which could have been avoided if the
government had taken action sooner to fix the root causes of
poverty.
“Schools are at the centre of efforts to improve equality of
opportunity. But the issues that underpin inequality reach far
beyond the school gates and exist throughout the communities that
schools serve. Inequality will remain entrenched in the UK unless
the government takes urgent action to break the grip of poverty.
This government must have the confidence to change the record on
child poverty.”
