An article published in The Times on Saturday 22 March, in which Bishop Martyn talks about how ambition is required to turn the tide on child poverty.
I recently visited a family hub in the town of Coalville, Leicestershire. Alongside a “community fridge” where free food parcels are distributed, they offer a range of activities and resources for families in need. I was inspired by the professional, compassionate staff who ensure that this “one-stop shop” enables families to draw on vital support. A particular focus of their work is with disabled children and those with special educational needs, who can access the specialist teaching, childcare service and short breaks at places such as FTM Dance, where music, dance and drama are offered to individuals with a range of needs and abilities. I am proud to live in a country where people of all faiths and none step up to support their neighbours.
Yet these children and families are among those anxiously awaiting news of exactly what the government’s reform of the social security system will mean for them. With the government’s child poverty strategy due this year, I am particularly mindful of how these reforms will affect the almost one million children who live in households where someone receives sickness benefits through universal credit. The government’s welcome aims to reduce child poverty and food insecurity may well be harder to achieve because of the actions taken this week, though we will have a clearer sense once the impact assessment is published alongside the chancellor’s spring statement.
As a faith leader, I am glad that the moral aspects of this agenda have been recognised alongside economic concerns. Indeed, a delicate balance must be struck between ensuring that public money is not spent unnecessarily, and recognising that expenditure to support disabled people with the additional costs associated with living well is never wasted, even if it becomes more expensive. While the government has sought to address one aspect of this challenge, I fear that it will fall short in its wider moral purpose if the unintended consequence is to drive some people further into poverty.
The 4.3 million children living in poverty today must not pay the price of difficult decisions. That is why I have signed a letter this weekend alongside Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist and other Christian leaders calling on the government to be bold in its child poverty strategy. We try to raise our children to be ambitious, live out the right values and pursue worthwhile aspirations. Yet in a country where one in three children are experiencing poverty — or two in five in my home city of Leicester — it is reasonable to ask whether we as adults are being ambitious enough on behalf of our children.
The government has stressed the need to work with the voluntary sector, faith organisations, trade unions, businesses, devolved and local government, and communities to address child poverty. Even when it stretches their own limited resources, people of faith will continue to play their part through food banks and pantries, warm hubs and debt centres, cups of tea and helping hands to offer others a vital lifeline. As we see the level of need increasing, we respond with practical support as well as calling for bolder action to address the causes of this hardship. While there will always be a role for churches to offer pastoral care and a personal touch that cannot be delivered through statutory services, the child poverty strategy will only succeed if it signals ambition from the very heart of government.
A new report published by Action for Children, Paying the Price, demonstrates that reducing child poverty will require an ambitious cross-government approach, including social security investment.
Trade-offs are inevitable in a difficult economic context. There are always choices about which priorities should be pursued and how money should be allocated. As people of faith, we believe the burden of hard choices must never fall on families and communities already struggling to make ends meet or to access the support they need. Yet if we remain on the current trajectory, a further 400,000 children will be living in poverty by the end of the decade, with all that means for their health, wellbeing and future life chances.
The child poverty strategy represents an opportunity to turn the tide on poverty. We therefore come together to call for — and bring about — a better future for our children. This is about prioritising action that makes ours a society of care and service, especially for the sake of those who might otherwise be unable to care for themselves. In the gospels, Jesus so often upends our assumptions about who and what we should prioritise. In Matthew xix, he rebukes his own disciples for hindering children because they are those to whom “the Kingdom of heaven belongs”. He calls us to notice God’s image in the stranger, no matter who they are or what they are perceived to contribute. Ensuring that children can experience the joy of life in all its fullness, free from poverty and with access to the support they need to grow, reflects our commitment to honour the image of God in each person as we seek to follow Jesus Christ in love and service to all.
Along with other faith leaders, I hope and pray that the child poverty strategy will harness the ambition of our communities and rise to the challenge we face.
The Rt Revd Martyn Snow is the Bishop of Leicester and the Church of England’s lead bishop for welfare in the House of Lords