Official data has shown that temporary housing helped kill at least 74 children in the last five years – meaning more than one child has died every month.
Figures from the NHS-funded National Child Mortality Database suggested that the prime causes of death linked to homelessness were overcrowding, mould and a lack of access to safer sleep options, such as cots and Moses baskets.
Of the 74 dead children, 58 were less than one year old.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Shared health, an organisation working with homeless families, says chances of death are increased if a child or baby is repeatedly moved, placed in accommodation without a cot or cooking facilities, and their family disconnected from support.
The organisation believes the effect on the health of homeless children is bigger than the data suggests, and current data is likely to be an underestimate.
This is supported by the comments of mothers who complained about being housed in hotel rooms where they had to wash plates in the shower, with no sterilisation or cooking facilities.
The government’s answer is to throw money at the problem. Housing Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said £1 billion would be allocated to councils to provide “safe, secure and stable housing”.
It isn’t the answer.
Rayner is currently struggling to provide her target of 1.5 million new homes – of any kind – before the end of the current Parliament, because there aren’t enough builders to carry out the work.
This problem is worsened by the fact that Labour has not done its homework on where the new accommodation should be, meaning local authorities have been told to find space for it where there may be no need, while others haven’t been offered enough.
Labour’s insistence on working with private developers means there won’t be enough social housing in any eventuality.
It is as if these politicians had no interest in planning for government before they won their election. A little research, and a little thinking, would have sorted out these problems long ago.
And as each month passes another child dies and yet another is on the way to death – in the fifth-largest economy in the world.
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Temporary housing helped kill at least 74 children
Official data has shown that temporary housing helped kill at least 74 children in the last five years – meaning more than one child has died every month.
Figures from the NHS-funded National Child Mortality Database suggested that the prime causes of death linked to homelessness were overcrowding, mould and a lack of access to safer sleep options, such as cots and Moses baskets.
Of the 74 dead children, 58 were less than one year old.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Shared health, an organisation working with homeless families, says chances of death are increased if a child or baby is repeatedly moved, placed in accommodation without a cot or cooking facilities, and their family disconnected from support.
The organisation believes the effect on the health of homeless children is bigger than the data suggests, and current data is likely to be an underestimate.
This is supported by the comments of mothers who complained about being housed in hotel rooms where they had to wash plates in the shower, with no sterilisation or cooking facilities.
The government’s answer is to throw money at the problem. Housing Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said £1 billion would be allocated to councils to provide “safe, secure and stable housing”.
It isn’t the answer.
Rayner is currently struggling to provide her target of 1.5 million new homes – of any kind – before the end of the current Parliament, because there aren’t enough builders to carry out the work.
This problem is worsened by the fact that Labour has not done its homework on where the new accommodation should be, meaning local authorities have been told to find space for it where there may be no need, while others haven’t been offered enough.
Labour’s insistence on working with private developers means there won’t be enough social housing in any eventuality.
It is as if these politicians had no interest in planning for government before they won their election. A little research, and a little thinking, would have sorted out these problems long ago.
And as each month passes another child dies and yet another is on the way to death – in the fifth-largest economy in the world.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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