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No heat. No food. No end in sight. The families facing deepening, desperate poverty

Pastoral issues Safeguarding Pupil wellbeing Poverty Closing the gap Vulnerable children Free School Meals
Deepening levels of poverty have forced many of the poorest families to cut down on or skip meals. Other families are turning off the heating. Some families have no choice but to do both...

The annual UK poverty report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF, 2023) also warns that many of the poorest families are living on a knife-edge, unable to afford any unexpected expense, living in arrears, and using credit to pay essential bills.

And with inflation continuing to hit record levels – there is no end in sight for these families.

Official government figures show that in the year to March 2021, 3.9 million children and young people (27%) were living in poverty (in families with 60% of the median UK income after housing costs). This figure includes one million children aged just four and under.

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