Today, I was delighted to welcome Orbit, a not for profit housing provider, to the House of Commons where it launched its latest report, Happy Healthy Starts – tackling child poverty.
Poverty is not just about low income, it’s also about access to decent housing, community amenities and social networks. I am supportive of initiatives which mean families have a better standard of living. Orbit’s initiative to leave good quality flooring and curtains in place for new tenants is a good example of what can be done to help people on low incomes. This practical help, along with their proposals to create play areas could make all the difference for families struggling to cope. I hope other housing associations will follow suit.
The report, launched today, outlines practical actions that we can take to help tackle child poverty; it shares steps that can be taken by other housing providers, organisations and business to make a difference to the communities where they work.
As the Co-Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty, I am deeply concerned about child poverty and in-work poverty.
In this day and age, it is totally unacceptable that children are brought up in poverty and often have to go hungry from one week to the next. One of the key causes of poverty is the high cost of rent, draining household budgets, leaving little over for the basics like food and clothing for children. We desperately need more new and affordable houses and initiatives like this will certainly help.
You can read the report in full here: https://www.orbit.org.uk/media/1436293/happy-healthy-starts-report.pdf