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Poverty is UK's hidden child killer
Government has failed to tackle the epidemic of chronic illness and early deaths among the most disadvantaged in society, says a new report
Government has failed to tackle the epidemic of chronic illness and early deaths among the most disadvantaged in society, says a new report
Email- Jamie Doward, home affairs editor
- The Observer, Sunday 24 August 2008
End Child Poverty, a 130-strong network of children's charities, church groups, unions and think-tanks, claims that the gap between rich and poor represents a 'huge injustice' in British society and has become one of the major factors affecting child mortality rates.
Its report, based on a wide-ranging analysis of government data, finds that children from poor families are at 10 times the risk of sudden infant death as children from better-off homes. And it reveals how babies from disadvantaged families are more likely to be born underweight - an average of 200 grams less than children from the richest families. Poorer children are two-and-a-half times more likely to suffer chronic illness when toddlers and twice as likely to have cerebral palsy, according to the report, 'Health Consequences of Poverty for Children'.
'Poverty is now one of the greatest dangers faced by our children,' said Nick Spencer, one of the report's authors and professor of child health at the University of Warwick. 'If poverty were an infection, we would be in the midst of a full-scale epidemic.'
The report is likely to revive the debate on child poverty and focus attention on Labour's record when it comes to tackling social inequalities. In March 1999, the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, promised to eradicate child poverty 'within a generation'. This was later defined as a commitment to end child poverty by 2020, with a target of halving the number of children living in poverty by 2010/11.
But last week the Conservatives attacked the government on its record for narrowing the gap between rich and poor. 'Labour has failed, it has created a more unfair society and I think there is a real opportunity for the Conservative party now to lead this debate,' the shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, said.
But while the current row over social inequality has tended to focus on education and benefits, the implications for health have been largely ignored. Now, however, the End Child Poverty report highlights how socio-economic factors affect the entire life of children born into poverty, from foetal development and early infancy through to teenage years and adulthood.
It found that children living in disadvantaged families are more than three times as likely to suffer from mental health disorders as those in well-off families and that infants under three years old in families with an annual income of less than £10,400 are twice as likely to suffer from asthma as those from families earning over £52,000.
The report also suggests the health consequences of being born into poverty continue well beyond infancy. For example, adults who came from deprived families were found to be 50 per cent more likely to have serious and limiting illnesses, such as type two diabetes and heart failure.
'From the day they are born, children's health and very survival are threatened by family poverty,' said Donald Hirsch, co-author of the report and policy adviser to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
'It is one of society's greatest inequalities that poor health is so dramatically linked to poverty. Children in the poorest UK families are at least twice as likely to die unexpectedly before their first birthdays than children in slightly better-off families. This is a huge injustice for the children in one of the richest nations in the world.'
The government claims it is closing the gap between rich and poor, but accepts that more needs to be done. The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said in June: 'Although we have already lifted hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty with new tax credits, more people in work and better public services, the latest figures show we have not made enough progress.'
He added: 'We will not deny or explain away the figures. We will take them as a spur to action, a call to conscience.'
The government recently announced the introduction of 10 pilot projects to tackle ill health among people from poor backgrounds, including rewarding parents for making sure their children attend health check-ups and receive inoculations.
But Hilary Fisher, director of the Campaign to End Child Poverty, said the new report showed that there was an urgent need for more robust measures to address the health consequences of economic deprivation. 'This evidence has profound implications for public policy,' Fisher said. 'The facts prove that effective action to end child poverty would make a vital long-term contribution to improving the health of our nation and prevent avoidable incidences of physical and mental ill health.
'The government made a bold promise to halve child poverty by 2010 and this now requires bold action.'
Because of poor quality food you moron
Erosion
They also have a policy of fudging figures to make their country seem a lot better off than it actually is in reality.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/9728.php
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/9728.php
Wartime Rationing helped the British get healthier than they had ever been
Portly's quite right. In times of plenty we eat more than we need, and more of the wrong things too.
Hahaha, believe it if you want, but it's still completely ludicrous. Anyone can afford pasta, a few vegetables etc. In fact food tends to get cheaper the healthier it is, especially if you shop at Lidl or Aldi. The really expensive stuff is packaged, processed, meals, takeaways, any kind of meat, and so on. The sort that people in 'poverty' tend to go for more other sections of society.
So if we all have a fair share of stuff we benefit from it ?
You're talking through your arse again.
"The really expensive stuff is packaged, processed, meals,"
Hahahahaha
If you're buying the same level of quality, processed food is defo costlier than fresh stuff.
But it is! Last time I went to Aldi I got 4 day's shopping, consisting of completely fresh or non-processed food - meat, eggs, pasta, fruit and veg - for around £14. That's £3.50 a day, which is £24.50 per week. Anyone in Britain either in work or on benefits can afford that.
That's the reality. Choose to ignore it if you want; after all, it seems to be catching round here.
no its shit.
you seem to want to ignore reality
you seem to want to ignore reality
That's part of it according to the article. But the main effect was that people ate much less of the "unhealthy" fatty foods such as meat and butter. 🙂
Well done you.
What part of it is 'shit'?
that anyone on benefits can afford to eat healthily.
@peterhague
The relationship between poverty and health
Statistics show that, at the national level, health problems are somewhat more likely to affect those with low incomes (or from manual social classes) than those with average or above-average incomes (or from non-manual social classes). To illustrate this point, across England as a whole:
Data used
ONS (2008) Childhood, infant and perinatal mortality statistics, series DH3 No. 29–38
DoH (2004–06) Health Survey for England
ONS (2004–06) General Household Survey
ONS (1997–09) Health Statistics Quarterly
okshitonyoupeterthankyoubye
The relationship between poverty and health
Statistics show that, at the national level, health problems are somewhat more likely to affect those with low incomes (or from manual social classes) than those with average or above-average incomes (or from non-manual social classes). To illustrate this point, across England as a whole:
- Infant deaths (deaths before the age of 12 months) are 50% more common in families from manual social backgrounds as families from non-manual social backgrounds.
- People in the poorest fifth of incomes are far more likely to be at risk of a mental health problem than those in the richest fifth (22% – 7% for men, 24% – 12% for women).
- Two-fifths of adults aged 45 to 64 with below-average incomes have a limiting long-term illness, more than twice the rate for adults of the same age with above-average incomes.
- Death rates for cancer and heart disease, the two biggest causes of death for under 65s, are about twice as high for people from manual rather than non-manual backgrounds.
Data used
ONS (2008) Childhood, infant and perinatal mortality statistics, series DH3 No. 29–38
DoH (2004–06) Health Survey for England
ONS (2004–06) General Household Survey
ONS (1997–09) Health Statistics Quarterly
okshitonyoupeterthankyoubye
Bloody erosion, coming here and taking our land!
Bollocks, fuck off.
I'm saying they can do that for £25 a week. I think someone with *at least* £71 a week can afford that.
As I said, fuck off you clueless cunt.
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