Letter to the Clerk by Mr Gregory Campbell
MP (CP 08)
I am writing to the Committee to impress upon
them the realities of child poverty in Northern Ireland. (NI)
Statistics reveal that one in every three children
in Northern Ireland live in poverty. These children are more likely
to underachieve educationally and have poorer health. Figures
from the Department of Social Development (NI) show that 32% of
children live in households whose only income derives from benefits
and that a further 18% of children live in households that claim
Working Family Tax Credit (now Working Tax Credit).[128]
Of the children living in poverty in NI 50% have at least one
parent employed this compares with a UK average of 33% of all
children living in poverty in similar working families.[129]
If one looks at the average household income, 21% is derived from
social security benefits, compared to 12% in the UK as a whole.
As a region of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland has the highest
number of children living in poverty. While research has indicated
that, while Working Family Tax Credit (now Working Tax Credit)
does lift some families out of poverty, however, insecure low
paid jobs mean that many families on Working Tax Credit remain
at risk of poverty and are likely to be back on benefit within
a year or less.
Energy costs are higher in Northern Ireland.
Providing necessities such as fuel, light and food costs accounts
for 26% of average household income compared to a UK average of
20%.[130]
Regarding food costs, inability to afford a
healthy diet means that young people from poorer families have
lower intakes of energy, fat, vitamins and minerals. Thus there
is a higher rate of Dental decay and sickness in children from
poorer families. It is important to ensure that disadvantaged
communities have GP and dental practices within the area.
Levels of debt are particularly alarming in
Northern Ireland. The most common kind of debt for families living
in poverty is loans from the Social Fund (Department of Social
Development).[131]
For the year 2000-01 in NI 133,187 people claiming benefits received
a loan from the Fund. Families who are in work but living on or
below the poverty line do not have access to loans from the Social
Fund. Many poor families, both low paid and on benefits, are forced
to seek "informal credit" through catalogues and money
lenders. In 2001, the Northern Ireland Association of Citizens
Advice Bureau recorded almost £5 million debt across the
Province. 49% of the debt clients were employed, aged between
25-30, with two children.[132]
There has been considerable controversy in Northern
Ireland over recent years regarding the criteria used to determine
deprivation. Given the disadvantages suffered by children in Protestant
areas, highlighted by the recent report into the European Special
Programme Monies, where over a three-year period £152 million
was spent in Nationalist areas with only £110 million spent
in Unionist areas,[133]
it is imperative that all of those of us interested in child poverty,
whatever the religion of the child, continue to support efforts
to eradicate that poverty equally across the community.
I trust the Committee will give due consideration
to the extent of poverty in Northern Ireland and the effectiveness
of the Government's strategy to eradicate it.
Mr Gregory Campbell MP
9 September 2003
128 DSD (2002) Northern Ireland Client Group Analysis:
Persons of working age and their children and persons of pensionable
age receiving key benefits in May 2001. Back
129
CPAG (2002), Poverty: the facts, London. Back
130
NIRSA (2000), NI Family Expenditure Survey Report for 1998-99. Back
131
In 1998, Social Fund loans replaced the old system of "single
payments" whereby those on benefits could receive a grant
to cover "exceptional items of expenditure" such as
buying a bed for a child grown too big for a cot, school uniforms
etc. Instead of grants, the Social Fund has three types of discretionary
awards: community care grants, budgeting loans and crisis loans. Back
132
NIACAB (2001) Would You Credit It?, Belfast. Back
133
NIRSA (June 2003) European Union Special Support Programme for
Peace and Reconciliation. An Estimate of Community Uptake. Research
Paper No 1. Back
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