Child Poverty

Earl of Listowel Excerpts

Thursday 17th November 2016 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Listowel (CB)]

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for calling this important debate. I am also grateful for his life experience, both of working in this area and, on a personal level, of growing up in poverty, which he brings—uniquely, perhaps—to this House.

Over the past 12 months, I have been following the journey of a mother living in temporary accommodation. I had been acquainted with her for several years before she became homeless. We have spoken on the phone on 10 or so occasions since she became homeless, and she has sent me photographs of the various rooms that she and her two daughters, aged 16 and one, have lived in. Over the years, I have seen her physical and mental health gradually deteriorate, but the period in temporary and bed-and-breakfast accommodation has accelerated that decline. Finally, a fortnight ago, I learned from her that she has been settled in a central London borough and, although she and her daughters all still share the same room, they now have a bed apiece, a large kitchen and a bathroom. She is overjoyed that, at least for the next six months, she has a decent home. A month ago, when she was living in a bed and breakfast, she expected to be whisked away to Manchester at any time. More and more, London local authorities are moving homeless families away from London, sometimes as far afield as Manchester, to places where they know nobody and nobody knows them. It was difficult enough for this mother to share a room and a bed with her 16 year-old daughter; I cannot imagine what stress it must put on a couple when they live in such cramped conditions with their children. I wonder what effect housing and income poverty is having on the relationships of couples with young children.

I began working with children in my teens, worked with children in inner-city housing estates in my 20s and have worked with children and young people intermittently since then. Often, when working with boys and young men, I have thought that it would be far better if their fathers were doing for them what I was doing. I remember taking a nine year-old ice skating for the first time and wishing that his father might have been there teaching him to do that. Whether it was taking boys to Chessington World of Adventures or skiing on a dry ski slope, I often wished that it was their fathers, rather than me, introducing them to these experiences. Of course, some of them did have a father teaching them to ride a bike, kicking a football around with them or taking them swimming. But for many, there was no such man. I could feel the ache of some of these boys and young men for a father. That ache might manifest itself in gifts to me. I particularly remember one boy gave me presents of the crickets that he bred on a daily basis.

The OECD research from 2011, led by Professor Melhuish at Birkbeck, University of London, highlighted that one in five of our children were growing up without a father in the home. That was significantly worse than in France or Germany. The United States stood at more than one in four, but the research projected that we would overtake the United States and in a couple of decades a third of our children could grow up without a father in the home.

I am most concerned that austerity, rising numbers of families living in temporary accommodation and cuts to benefits may contribute to this family breakdown. While many single parents cope admirably and there are means of mitigating the loss of fathers, or mothers, and while some fathers may be violent or have difficulties with alcohol or drugs and are best out of their child’s life, at least until they have received help and are reformed, I am sure that the Minister—who takes these issues of family support and stability very seriously—will want to take all steps to minimise the risk of exacerbating couple breakdown.

I note the helpful report from the Centre for Social Justice in 2013 looking at this particular issue and highlighting the large numbers of children growing up without fathers and family. I am concerned that this matter is not often talked about. I recognise that it can be difficult, but I ask the Minister: is the effect of poverty on family breakdown being monitored? I know that a lot of poverty arises from family breakdown, but I am interested to know how far poverty—income poverty and housing poverty in particular—is leading to family breakdown. Have Her Majesty’s Government modelled rates of family breakdown with different rates of poverty? Have they examined the relationship between family homelessness and living in temporary accommodation—120,000 children will live in temporary accommodation this Christmas—and family breakdown? What is the current rate of children living without a father in the home in this country? What is the rate anticipated in 10 years’ time?

I look forward to the Minister’s response.