It is not difficult to find examples of how much harder things have become under this government. Take some time to explore any constituency or community in this country and you will find stories to break your heart. The pensioner deciding whether to eat or heat their home this winter, the mother unsure if she can afford new shoes for her child’s first day of school, the shift worker whose wages seem worth less at the end of each month that passes.
Stories such as these make clear the human consequences of Tory rule, but even they cannot convey the scale of the problem. Because the reality is that in my own constituency 31 per cent of children are living in poverty. A third of our children are born into families living hand to mouth, struggling to make ends meet, struggling to pay the bills, struggling to feed their kids.
In my short time as a member of parliament I have already heard heartbreaking stories of children fainting on Monday morning because they have not eaten since the Friday before. Others are surviving on little more than a packet of crisps a day. For these children their school meal can often be the only hot meal that they get.
Schools have been working hard to tackle this problem, with breakfast clubs and other support becoming more and more common. These projects make a huge difference and can ensure that our most vulnerable kids are receiving the nutrition they need during term time.
But what happens to these kids when school is out and the holiday looms? How can we expect them to achieve their potential when they are returning to school in September malnourished?
That is why I am using my adjournment debate this week to call on the government to take action. There is no quick fix to holiday hunger, but there are practical steps that we can take to begin to address the problem.
First, we need further research into the impact that holiday hunger and a lack of additional provision is having on the poorest and most vulnerable children. In particular we need to improve our understanding of how malnutrition and isolation leads to learning loss and academic backsliding in our young people.
Second, we need the government to engage with groups such as the holiday hunger taskforce who are at the cutting-edge of this research to date. Despite clear evidence that children have been returning to school after the summer holiday malnourished, the Department for Education has so far been reluctant to engage on the issue.
Finally, we need the government to support projects aiming to tackle holiday hunger by providing innovation funding, for local organisations to deliver programmes in their area and to develop best practice. In the United States holiday hunger is recognised as a national issue and federally funded – we cannot feed our children on goodwill alone.
Our country will rise or fall on the backs of the next generation. If we cannot provide for our children now, we will pay for it in the years to come.
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Ruth Smeeth is member of parliament for Stoke-on-Trent North. She tweets @RuthSmeeth
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