By Aaron Barbour
I was reminded recently of the London Health Observatory statistic that for every tube stop on the Jubilee line going east, from Westminster to Canning Town, life expectancy decreases by one year.
A more shocking report from the World Health Organisation last week claimed that life expectancy in two different neighbourhoods of Glasgow (a 10 minute drive from each other) vary by as much as 28 years.
The main factor for this huge disparity is poverty. Staggeringly the gap between the rich and the poor has continued to grow over the last 10 years under a Labour government.
Poverty has a life time impact on the children and young people who grow up experienceing it. Child poverty in the UK is unacceptable. We are the fourth largest economy in the world, a powerhouse for the world’s financial markets, a rich and prosperous country, and yet:
- 3.9 million children are living below the poverty line in Britain
- 1 in 4 children in London live in poverty
- 54% of children in the London borough of Newham, where we work, live in poverty
We recently published some research into poverty in our area commissioned by the local authority and in October linksUK’s ‘Social Change Series’ will focus on child poverty- so watch this blog… or subscribe to get regular updates by email.
