The Effects of Child Poverty
Poverty affects one in four children in Kirklees. When children grow up in poverty, they miss out on the things most children could take for granted: warm clothes, three meals a day, school trips, having friends over for tea etc… They are likely to do less well at school and earn less as future adults due to reduced economic opportunities.
Living in poverty causes significant stress. Financial worries are most common in deprived areas of Kirklees and research shows that it has short and long term effects on a child’s education and health.
The cost of living has risen, with many families now experiencing poverty and health inequalities. Parents have told us how they are worried because they can’t afford to heat their homes and are missing meals so they can buy nappies and food for their children.
Living in poverty adds further strains to many parents already struggling with anxiety, post-natal depression, isolation, physical and other health related problems.
Tackling Child Poverty
Home-Start Kirklees is committed to ensuring children have the best start to life. We want children to be thriving not just surviving. Our tackling child poverty fund is designed to provide crucial support when families need it most. Through our tackling child poverty fund, we provide:
- Clothing for adults and children to keep them warm and dry.
- Household items like bedding to make a home feel comfortable.
- One to one budgeting support, educating and empowering families to better manage their finances.
Our most recent data (21/22) shows families struggling with finances has risen to 57% (from 50% the previous year). Due to a lack of financial knowledge, many of our parents access pay day loans and other high interest financial agreements to pay for household goods. Parents are often plunged into debt spirals which has a detrimental effect on their health and wellbeing.
Through our tackling child poverty fund, we identify families living in poverty and provide them with practical advice on switching energy providers, saving money on food shopping and teach them budgeting techniques to help prevent further debt.
Our Impact
In 2021/22, thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we were able to make a huge difference to the lives of our supported families. Here are a few examples of how we help change families lives.
“The blankets and rug has made a massive difference. I can keep my electric fire off and we all have a cosy blanket to keep us warm. The food voucher has made me feel a lot of relief and less tension from my anxiety. I’ve been able to top up my gas and eat with my kids. It’s made a real difference to me, the fact I can sit down and eat a meal with my kids and be warm is more than I could have ever asked for. Thank you.”
“First of all I want to say I massive thank you! With everything going up it’s a lot harder to keep the house warm and it has been quite a stress for me. Now that we’ve got a dressing gown for layering up and duvets (and covers) instead of thin blankets this will help massively through the night. The wellies for my daughter means we can still go in the garden and have fun knowing I won’t need to worry about her feet getting all wet and cold, as well as not having to wait for shoes to dry so we can do things!”
“Thank you so much for the curtains, they have been so helpful in keeping the heat in and making sure we’re all warm. With the cost of living crisis, essentials like these aren’t easy to come by so this has helped us out a lot, thank you.”
We’re proud of our charitable work and thankful to our supporters and donors. They share our passion for helping some of the most vulnerable families in Kirklees and we couldn’t do it without them.
