Debate contribution: Holiday Hunger

Debate contribution by Ms Sian Mulholland on 19 March 2024.

MLA: Ms Sian Mulholland
Party at the time: Alliance Party
Date: 19 March 2024
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Holiday Hunger
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 4279635

Text

Thank you, Madam Deputy Principal Speaker. Did I get that right? Is that the right order? Today we address an urgent issue that affects the very fabric of our society: children going hungry. It is a travesty that, in our supposedly advanced society, children and young people in Northern Ireland are still going hungry during school holidays. The Assembly must recognise the severity of the issue and take decisive action to end it now. We have made significant strides here towards peace and prosperity, yet, underneath the surface, there is a stark reality that we cannot afford to ignore. Poverty continues to cast a long shadow over the life of children and young people, depriving them of dignity and the opportunities that they deserve. The statistics are stark: 18% of Northern Irish children live in relative poverty before housing costs; and 8% of children live in persistent poverty. Over 35,000 emergency food parcels that the Trussell Trust delivered in Northern Ireland in 2022-23 were for children. In my constituency, the Mid and East Antrim Community Hub, through its affordable food club, has delivered hundreds and hundreds of food parcels to children, but that funding has now ended and there is no replacement in sight for the next school holiday. The Trussell Trust also highlights the fact that food banks in Northern Ireland have seen the greatest long-term increase of any region and that one fifth of those who use food banks are from a working household. It is no coincidence that we are the only nation without an anti-poverty strategy. We need to address the reality that children do not exist in silos. We need a joined-up approach to their well-being that factors in their educational, social and health needs. Whilst the motion is directed to the Minister of Education, I also call on the Minister for Communities to act now and to publish an anti-poverty strategy that is fully holistic and factors in input from all Departments. The lack of an anti-poverty strategy in Northern Ireland strikes at the heart of our values and our sense of justice. We cannot ignore the human cost of poverty. It manifests in children going to bed hungry and families facing impossible choices, as we have heard, between heating their home or putting food on the table.
I could not agree more. That was the point that I was making about children not existing in silos. We cannot play politics with the issue. It has to be cross-party, cross-departmental and cross-service. There needs to be a holistic approach to protecting our children from this hunger. I thank the Member for his intervention, because this is not just hyperbole. The statistics make the case for us. Providing a nutritious meal for children is not just sustenance; it is the fuel that powers their development. By the age of three, children from low-income families have heard, on average, 30 million fewer words and have half the vocabulary of children from higher-income families. Children who receive free school meals are two times more likely than their more affluent peers to leave school with no GCSEs. There is a 24% GCSE attainment gap for children who receive free school meals. The recent cut to the school holiday food grant has exacerbated an already dire situation. The cut has hit the most vulnerable and the most disadvantaged, leaving them without access to the meals that they so desperately need. Poverty and educational underachievement are clearly intertwined; the research is there. The removal of vital support schemes only deepens those disparities. The repercussions of child poverty extend so far beyond just the immediate suffering of those who are directly impacted; they reverberate through our society, undermining social cohesion and economic progress. When a significant proportion of our population is held back by poverty, we all suffer consequences, whether it is reduced productivity, an increased drain on public services or heightened levels of inequality. The estimated annual costs of child poverty are up to £1 billion.
I call on the Education Minister to act swiftly and decisively. We need a comprehensive plan to end holiday hunger once and for all. It must include measures to reinstate and bolster the school holiday food grant scheme and urgently progress and publish the review of the eligibility criteria for free school meals, ensuring that no child is left behind. Additionally, we must explore innovative solutions to address the root causes of poverty and food insecurity, working collaboratively with all stakeholders, be they community organisations, businesses or anyone and everyone who has a part to play. This is one element of a larger picture. We have to push services and Departments to work together to build a future where poverty is no longer a barrier to our young people flourishing and thriving. Only then can we truly claim to live in a just and equitable society. We already see the cost of inaction in our poverty statistics, and that is to our shame.

829 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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