London —
Thea Jaffe never expected to use a baby bank. In fact, she was responsible for referring other single parents from her local community group to the charity Little Village, which provides essential supplies for new parents who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford them – everything from strollers and cots to clothes, diapers, toys and books.
But when Jaffe, who lives in London, became pregnant unexpectedly with her second child, she couldn’t afford to buy everything she needed. “It’s so overwhelming having to accommodate a baby with no budget,” she told CNN.
“I was already struggling financially… but I didn’t know how bad things were going to get… Now things are at a point where I’m working full time, and I cannot pay my bills.”
A Little Village baby bank in Wembley, North London is filled with items new parents might need. Issy Ronald/CNN
Child poverty has reached a record high in the United Kingdom as the country’s cost of living soars and its social security safety net falters following years of government austerity. With public services much weakened, charities like Little Village have stepped in.
The issue is firmly under the spotlight this week as campaign groups call on Britain’s Labour government to prioritize measures to reduce child poverty in its annual budget, which will be unveiled on Wednesday.
Around one-third of Britain’s children – about 4.5 million – now live in relative poverty, often measured as living in a household that earns below 60% of the national median income after housing costs, a government report published in April found.
One million of these children are destitute, going without their most basic needs of staying warm, dry, clothed and fed being met, according to a 2023 study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which studies poverty and formulates policy to tackle it.
“We came across one family that were just existing on cornflakes and rice,” Little Village chief executive Sophie Livingstone told CNN.
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