CHILD poverty stays as significant a difficulty because it was a decade ago, showing that the Government’s approach to tackling it will not be enough, the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler, said in his farewell speech within the House of Lords on Wednesday.
During a debate on poverty reduction, the Bishop, recalling his maiden speech within the House in 2014, said: “I spoke of the high levels of poverty in my region of the north-east. Sadly, poverty, particularly child poverty, stays as significant a difficulty today because it was ten years ago.”
He quoted figures from the North East Child Poverty Commission, which last week reported that there have been about 134,000 children living in poverty within the North East Mayoral Combined Authority in 2021-22 — a rise of greater than seven per cent since 2014-15.
“But poverty will not be nearly numbers,” the Bishop said. “Behind each statistic are the lives of youngsters and the impact on them is all-encompassing. Poverty means going without the essential essentials. It means not with the ability to concentrate in class, as a consequence of an empty stomach and never getting adequate nutrition; a packet of apples costs five times the quantity of a packet of biscuits.
“Poverty means missed opportunities. It denies the prospect to develop recent skills through extra-curricular activities. Poverty means growing up too soon. It means coping with stresses and anxieties with which no child should ever be burdened. It impacts the current and its effects last a lifetime.”
More fundamentally, Bishop Butler said, “I care about poverty because God cares about it.”
In ten years, he continued, the Conservative Government “has been promoting work as a route out of poverty. Given that the proportion of youngsters from working families living in poverty within the north-east has risen from 56 per cent to 67 per cent over the past seven years, it is evident that work alone will not be enough.”
Work was the reply provided that a living wage was paid, and secure hours and dealing practices were provided, the Bishop said. “Viewing paid work as the only route out of poverty fails to recognise the invaluable unpaid work that so many contribute. Raising children is an important role that any parent ever undertakes. Its importance outweighs that of any paid employment and should be acknowledged by the entire of society as such.”
He also gave the instance of foodbanks and community volunteering.
The two-child limit on Universal Credit must even be scrapped (News, 27 March) and a UK-wide strategy developed, which utilised the voices of those that had experienced poverty or worked to cut back it, including schools, charities, and faith communities, the Bishop said.
“Poverty is a scourge. It must be confronted head-on as a national emergency. Jesus warned us to not harm children. . . We need a clearer vision for kids and for a way we confront all poverty. Only then will we see poverty be reduced. Only then will we be sure that no child on this country grows up without the essential essentials and at last end child poverty.”
Bishop Butler is as a consequence of retire at the top of the month (News, 21 July 2023). He has spoken often within the House, where Bishops of Durham sit as of right, and his speeches have touched on a wide selection of subjects, but particularly the refugee crisis and education.
He is the Church’s official advocate for kids (he was the lead safeguarding bishop, 2010-16) and chairs the board of the National Society. He has also chaired the trustees of the Church Mission Society, and served as president of the Scripture Union (2012-19). Bishop Butler has contributed to several books and papers on these subjects.
Shortly after Bishop Butler spoke, the Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Revd Richard Jackson, made his maiden speech in the identical debate. Focusing on rural poverty in his diocese, he said: “The disparity between rural house prices and rural wages implies that the pressure on these communities is especially severe.”
He also spoke concerning the agricultural sector: “Smaller farmers are struggling. The transition from basic-farm-payment support to environmental land-management schemes post-Brexit, while welcome in lots of its goals, has not been seamless.”
