Letter: In Judging Child Poverty, We Need to be Kind and Sensitive, as Well as Helping

Published on: 29 Oct, 2020
Updated on: 29 Oct, 2020

From: Sue Doughty

former Lib Dem MP for Guildford

In response to: Some Points to Freely Digest

Not all parents are good parents. Some don’t know how to be and some had a terrible upbringing themselves. In my days as Guildford’s MP, I was very aware of local kids who didn’t go to school on Fridays because the money had run out.

There have always been people who have very little money and struggle to manage what little they have. Instead of stigmatising families who are not coping, and the letters above give excellent descriptions of their problems, we need to help, be kind and also be sensitive.

Siding with MPs who judge a child’s worthiness of support by whether they are from the “deserving poor” or whether they live in a crack house is not taking this problem forward.

So hats off to Marcus Rashford who had the guts to bring the issue of child poverty right to the front and let’s hope those MPs at a senior level who feel hardship is difficulty affording a nanny or the school fees will think again.