With the sun breaking through the clouds and the sky beautifully blue this bright June day, it’s easy to imagine, upon entering Belfast, that life’s pretty good. As I make my way to ‘the house on the hill’ (aka Stormont) however, I remember my reason for being here – child poverty.
Yes, despite the obvious affluence in parts of Northern Irish society, poverty is rife in our country. Behind the landscape made picture-perfect by the summer weather today, I’m here at Stormont for the launch of VIEW/digital’s latest magazine – the child poverty issue.
Guest edited by founder and chairperson of the Whiterock Children’s Centre in Belfast – Jane Craven – this edition shines the spotlight on the increasingly high percentage of children living in poverty in the province.
Driving up the sweeping entrance to Stormont, it’s hard not to feel a slight sense of awe as I think that here, there’s the power to make change happen. Everyone I meet en route to my destination within the Stormont grounds is extremely helpful in guiding me where I need to go. The mood is positive and there’s an overarching sense of helpfulness in the air.
Steven Agnew MLA
With contributors to the social affairs magazine attending the launch, along with interviewees and people working in the childcare and voluntary sector, the room is buzzing when I arrive. Una Murphy from VIEW/digital subsequently introduces the Green Party’s Steven Agnew MLA, who’s here to officially launch the publication.
Strongly opposed to Welfare Reform, Steven tells us how he previously worked with the homeless in a family hostel and later, with the Simon Community, before becoming an MLA.
“I saw the effects of poverty on the residents there and the effects on the children,” he says. “It certainly informed the work I do.”
Joined up services for children is what’s required, he says, and it’s a sentiment echoed by the rest of the speakers. Professor Paddy Hillyard of Queen’s University, adds that the forecasts for child poverty are “very very severe,” and holds up yesterday’s Observer newspaper, where the story made the front page.
Prof Paddy Hillyard of QUB
“We have to either increase the unit of resource or reduce people’s outgoings,” he says.
How to do this? Professor Hillyard suggests minimum wage guarantees, regulating zero hours contracts – perhaps reintroducing rent control. We must ‘poverty-proof’ every aspect of public expenditure, he says, and take more from those who can afford it to cover the cost.
Guest editor, Jane Craven, adds her voice to this sentiment. She tells the assembled crowd, including representatives from Christians Against Poverty (CAP), The Simon Community, Fighting Words Belfast and more, that plenty of people are prepared to pay more taxes.
“Just ask us,” she says.
Guest editor, Jane Craven
She speaks of the need for a dedicated children’s representative in government; of better funding for childcare issues and of the need for a ‘free school day’.
“Every child deserves the right to every experience at school,” she says. “So every child has the same opportunities.”
The final word comes from VIEW/digital editor, Brian Pelan. He explains the importance of highlighting such pertinent issues through journalism – about asking the questions that need to be asked.
As I make my way back down the hill and into the hubbub of Belfast in the rising heat of the afternoon, I see the city through a different lens. Heading back home, to the north coast, I pass scatterings of blooming buttercups along the roadside, and I think of something else Jane said.
“Put children in the right ‘compost’ and they’ll flourish. If they’re lacking something, then give them what they need to grow.”
If enough people pull together with the same view, then hopefully, we can begin to end the child poverty issue…
NB This is an extended version of the blog I wrote for VIEW/digital.