Blog Action Day - Poverty Strikes Home
15 October, 2008 - Misc - 8 Comments
Poverty is a worldwide problem. 25,000 around the world die each day from nothing but hunger. 25,000!
But while poverty is a global problem and seems so far away, you often only have to walk down the street to see it in your own home town.
UK Poverty
It was just 16 days ago that the BBC ran a story titled Millions of UK young in poverty. In some areas, 98% of children are classed as being in poverty. Almost 4 million children in the UK.
The map to the right shows the extent of poverty in the UK. The blue circle is where I live. Although not in an area of high poverty, just 10 minutes down the road and I’m amongst some of the worst.
Director of The Campaign to End Child Poverty, Hilary Fisher said:
“There are currently 3,900,000 children in the UK that are classed as actually living in poverty, which impacts on every aspect of a child’s life.
“A child in poverty is 10 times more likely to die in infancy, and five times more likely to die in an accident.
“Adults who lived in poverty as a child are 50 times more likely to develop a restrictive illness such diabetes or bronchitis.”
Poverty isn’t just in Africa. It’s right here on your doorstep.
Update: One hour after this post was published, the BBC reported an inquiry is to take place about poverty levels in Bradford, the closest city to me.
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Posted on 15 October, 2008 by Jamie Harrop
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Thanks for participating in the event this year, Jamie. Everyone can make a difference!
Kris @ Fresh Focuss last blog post..Blog Action Day – The Sickening Tale of Poverty
Thank *you*, Kris.
This past weekend was Thanksgiving here and the local soup kitchen handed out a record amount of meals this year. The economy has been strong for the most part but it has been slowing down a bit with all the problems in the USA. I live in what is considered the ‘yuppie’ suburbs of the city so it doesn’t really enter your mind about poverty but it happens everywhere.
I wish we had Thanksgiving over here.
I donated some money to the Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver that John Chow was supporting, but it would have been even better to have a thanksgiving charity over here to donate to.
I live in a pretty good neighbourhood myself, Nick, but two minutes down the road and it can be totally different. It’s a strange world we live in.
Hi Jamie - this is so true. It’s relative poverty, I know. But we definitely have folk suffering over here - it’s just not as widespread and certainly different to the poverty in the third world.
In the UK - we definitely have areas with poorer education and I think that is a huge contribution toward poverty. I don’t know whether education levels in secondary schools are poorer because the people in those areas have been poorly educated by their parents to begin with.
Or maybe they attract teachers who are not as good, because the schools have a bad reputation. I guess it’s probably a mixture of both.
But I don’t think we can end poverty in the UK, until education improves somehow - and it actually seems to be getting worse.
I did a lot of studying re - poverty and single parents. And I must admit, I was always biased to the side of single parents. Then I met a sixteen year old girl in the street - she was a single mother who’d been in hospital the same time I was having my son.
She invited me for coffee and it didn’t take long to realise what a feckless mother she was. Her baby almost pulled itself right off her bed onto the floor. I grabbed him just in time, but she didn’t bat an eyelid.
The child had been born prematurely and was really ill. She didn’t have a partner - yet she said she couldn’t wait to have another child and was planning to have one within the next year, when she clearly couldn’t look after that one.
It made me realise that we really think we need to help people to help themselves and I guess that starts with education. And unfortunately - a lot of that education comes from parents who are feckless to begin with. I’m not saying that’s always the case. Some people are in situations where they can’t help themselves and do need help.
Wow. That was a fantastic comment, Cath.
There are certainly some strange people in the world, and yes, I do agree that a lot of it extends down to the parents.
Thanks for taking the time to write that comment.
Hi Jamie. It is sad to think of that many children going hungry, especially considering that today’s children are the future, and so on.
Davinas last blog post..Blog Action: Pass The Change, Be The Change
Indeed it is. So many around the world too.
Look on the positive though. We can do something about it if we try.