Marie Curie UK’s Post

Labour MP Sam Rushworth has reignited the debate, calling for free school meals to tackle child poverty, but only when the economy allows. While the policy isn’t yet government-backed, Rushworth argues it could be transformative for struggling families. Professor Amelia Lake highlights another benefit: improving children’s health to ease future NHS costs. Should universal free school meals be a priority? What do you think? Is this an investment in our children’s future? https://lnkd.in/eXc98u_U #ChildPoverty #FreeSchoolMeals #UKPolitics

📊 ALICE in Will County: A Hidden Struggle 📊 In Will County, 27% of residents are part of the ALICE population—Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed—while 7% fall below the poverty line. Together, this means that 1 in 3 residents struggles to afford basic needs like housing, food, and healthcare. As highlighted in the Herald-News article Be a Herald Angel on November 19th, ALICE families are often just one unexpected expense—like a car repair or medical bill—away from crisis. ALICE families work hard but often fall through the cracks, unable to qualify for assistance programs despite struggling to afford basic needs. Many federal and state programs use outdated guidelines that fail to reflect today’s rising costs of living. Together, we can raise awareness and support these hardworking families through the generosity of our community and the impactful programs of United Way of Will County. 💙 #SupportALICE #UnitedWayWillCounty #LiveUnited #PovertyAwareness #CommunitySupport

📈 Yesterday, there was a debate in the House of Lords about the rising numbers of children in care in England tabled by Lord Laming. The debate covered a range of topics including: 💭 The factors causing the rising number of children in care (including rising poverty levels and cuts to early-intervention services over the past decade) 💭 Some of the challenges facing local authorities (including reductions in the number of foster carers, and rising costs for residential care) 💭 The impact of an overwhelmed system of care-experienced young people (including increased instability and more children being moved far from their communities and support networks). 💜 We need urgent, ambitious and concrete reform of the care system to improve the lives and life chances of care-experienced young people. Time to Show We Care, our manifesto to make the care system better, calls on the next Government to have higher aspirations for care-experienced children and young people: https://lnkd.in/eAWunMWT Watch back the full debate: https://lnkd.in/e92yKwDV

⚠ This heart-breaking article in Daily Mirror highlights why we urgently need the government to extend #FreeSchoolMeals so more children can access them. The latest figures show 900,000 children living in poverty in England are missing out on what is a vital nutritional safety net, particularly for low-income families struggling with the #costoflivingcrisis https://lnkd.in/ezfvEun8

A peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet in 2022 concluded that 10,000 children entered the care system for reasons linked to poverty in the five-year period from 2015 to 2020. Too many children are being placed far from home, in settings that don’t meet their needs. We have a vision of a better care system: one that ensures that all care-experienced people have the same chances as everyone else to live happy, fulfilled lives. Read more facts & stats about the care system: https://lnkd.in/epWGkAcE #CareSystem #Statistics

It’s carer’s rights day & I wanted to re-highlight the important work being done by the Carer Poverty Commission - whose research has shown that currently, in NI, 1 in 4 carers live in poverty. Meaning many cannot afford basic essentials such as food, clothing or heating - let alone the additional costs involved with providing unpaid care for a family member or friend. Research has shown that the single most significant predictor of unpaid carer poverty is whether or not carers are in employment. With that in mind carer’s should have the right to… - Choose whether or not they provide unpaid care - The right to paid carers leave from work (78% of respondents to the State of Caring Survey 2024 stated they could not afford to take unpaid leave from work) - The right to flexible working arrangements as a day one right - The right to respite care and short breaks which can help them to maintain their own health and wellbeing Carers NI are working hard to support carers in Northern Ireland and to lobby for legislative change which will support carer’s rights, including those above. You can read more about Carers NI and the Carer Poverty Commission’s work click here: https://lnkd.in/er7nvAza.

New research reveals 1 in 10 carers live in poverty. Emily Holzhausen, Director of Policy & Public Affairs at Carers UK, calls it “deeply disturbing and shocking” that millions of unpaid carers face such hardship. Emily adds, "Every day across the UK, the care they provide helps to hold society together. Yet so many pay an extremely heavy price with caring leaving them in or at risk of poverty and financial hardship. It’s simply unacceptable. The recent scandal over carer’s allowance overpayments have shown that a review of carer’s allowance, including its processes, is long overdue. We need a modern benefits system to fit the changing needs of carers and society.” Read more in the The Guardian article here: https://ow.ly/ilnr50TlVXw

Important (and increasingly so) topic. This is the third report on this issue we've published (with more to come). Watch this space.

A quick word on priorities. Last week Parliament debated youth homelessness for the first time in 40 years, a landmark moment in some ways but ending with just 5 MPs (0.7% of all MPs) turning up to speak and engage. Of course the excuse will be made that local elections were the following day and many MPs were out in constituencies, but the reality is 11 MPs turned up to the debate after on Furnished Holiday Lettings. A niche topic by any measure but not to debating MPs many of whom had declared interests in the matter. And therein lies a challenge with modern politics. How can polticians prioritise the right issues rather than the ones they know about - or ones which those with the loudest voices shout about (planning and potholes we are talking to you?). So my challenge to MPs of all parties these next few months is to go and spend time with charities and communities hearing about what is really happening. Volunteer at a food bank, help at a homeless shelter, clean on a hospital ward for a day. But do it because you want to learn: no cameras, no PR afterwards. Talk to people and listen to what they have to say. And in return I promise to do some swatting on taxation law. I’ve heard guidance HS253 is a must read.

I’m proud to share that my article on government assistance and its shortcomings for working families has been published in a local Tucson newsletter the ‘Arizona Daily Star’. In this piece, I explore how many working families who are struggling with poverty often find themselves ineligible for critical support programs, or receiving aid that isn’t sufficient to meet their needs. I hope this piece sparks important conversations around how we can rethink and improve government assistance programs to better serve those who need it. You can read the full article here -