NI worst child poverty in UK

By Goretti Horgan

The report on child poverty in Northern Ireland, written by Marina Monteith and I and published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, is not a good news story.

The report dug below the headline figures to show that child poverty in Northern Ireland is worse than in other parts of the UK. It showed that, over a four-year period, one in two children in NI were living in poverty at some time and 21 per cent were in poverty for either three or four of the years (this is called ‘persistent poverty’).  The figures show that every other child in NI can expect to experience poverty at some time in their lives, while a fifth spends a significant part of their childhood in poverty.

There are a number of reasons why there are such high levels of persistent child poverty here: there are not enough jobs – particularly outside Belfast; the jobs that are available are low-paid with no ‘prospects’ or hope of a pension.  In 2007, half of all men working full-time in NI earned less than £424.80 per week. This is just 85% of the UK figure of £498.30 and about £15 a week less than the next lowest paid region of the UK, the North East of England.

Part of the problem is that the North is promoted as a low-wage economy. Invest Northern Ireland, the agency that promotes inward investment in the region, asks on its website: “Why locate in Northern Ireland?”  The answer? “Northern Ireland provides one of the most cost-efficient business environments in Europe. Salary costs are up to 30 per cent lower than other similar European locations. Labour costs are comparably lower than the rest of the UK and Europe.”

When Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness visited the USA recently, Robinson emphasized how little people in Northern Ireland were willing to work for – and McGuinness joined in, joking that they are willing to work for even less in Derry!

There are a lot of other issues highlighted in the report – including the high levels of people unable to work due to disability and ill-health. Levels of mental ill-health in the North are particularly high and several studies have linked this to the legacy of the conflict.

As in the South, childcare is scarce and what is available is really expensive, making it difficult for mothers to work full-time.

Public transport is also scarce and expensive – which makes travelling to work difficult. Over a quarter of households do not have access to a car while, at the other end of society, 30% of households have access to two or more cars.  38% of households in Derry and 29% in Belfast do not have access to a car, along with over half of all lone parents. Treasury figures show 2006/07 expenditure per head on transport in NI (£226) was less than half that in Scotland (£489).

Half of the report looks at what young people in a range of studies have said about growing up poor in the North.  Children growing up in poverty say they feel left out at school, that teachers “look down on” them and don’t show them respect.  They worry about their families’ inability to meet the hidden costs of education or to afford out-of-school activities.
Some activities, like the cinema, swimming pool, or bowling alley may be seen as luxuries, but when children and young people cannot afford these things, it often means they cannot meet friends outside of school. As well as affecting their social lives, it can feed back into their feelings about being “outsiders” at school. But instead of making more facilities available for young people, Youth Services have suffered a series of cutbacks in funding over recent years, with Sinn Fein Minister Caitriona Ruane imposing an 8% cut in its 2008/09 budget.
Some young people have said that they feel like an “outsider” in school and even within their own area. Most of these young people live in areas that experienced the worst of the Troubles; areas that remain in deep social distress. In both Catholic and Protestant areas, they tend to be the victims of police harassment and paramilitary “punishment beatings.” 

The report is available to download free at www.jrf.org.uk .