“In reality, there are two tiers of childhood in Islington and children grow up aware of the fact that they’re not living with the same experience as some of their peers,” Lucy Benson, head of an adventure playground at Islington Play Association (IPA) said.
“Islington is seen as a very wealthy borough, but poverty is a significant and serious issue.”
Ms Benson recalls colleagues being told by parents that they were reluctant to let their kids use the playground, for fear that their clothes might get dirty.
“Parents would tell my colleagues that their child only had one pair of shoes or one set of clean clothes, so running around the playground meant that things might get ruined or won’t be clean for the next day.
“The Friends of Lumpy Hill Organization, which does work similar to what we are trying to achieve, had to step in to provide basic clothing, like t-shirts, so that the kids would be able to enjoy their playtime,” Ms Benson said.
Almost 7,000 primary school pupils in Islington are eligible for deprivation grants, according to the council’s annual State of Equalities report.
The figures, which represent nearly 50 per cent of the student population at the primary level, increase to 67 per cent as children move onto secondary school.
Despite its reputation for affluence, more than a third of people are living in poverty, on a household income of less than £20,000 a year.
38 per cent of children in Islington lives in poverty, according to Trust for London, with Tower Hamlets being the only borough with a higher rate of child deprivation.
Among the reasons for inequality in Islington is in-work poverty, due to low wages – which are the third lowest in London – and high rates of unemployment.
Universal Credit, the unregulated growth of the private rented sector and a lack of affordable childcare are also cited as contributing factors to the prevalence of poverty across the borough.
“The problem has been getting worse over the last few years and the council has become increasingly concerned, so even though the council has lost 70 per cent of its funding since 2010, it’s having to take steps to fill the gap,” Ms Benson said.
Islington Play Association, funded by Islington Council, is offering free meals during the Easter holidays for children who would otherwise go without.
“For many of these children, their largest meal of the day is their school lunch, and that isn’t there during the holidays.
It’s incredibly difficult growing up with hunger, cold and the social exclusion that comes with poverty, and that has implications for children’s mental health,” Ms Benson said.
“The poverty rate has been consistently high for at least the last ten years, despite Islington’s overall improvement since 2010, when it was the second poorest borough in the country, to now, being third. Poverty is now a pattern, there hasn’t been a significant change,” according to Sioned Churchill from Trust for London.
The rise of in-work poverty is a troublesome issue.
A lot of families are currently employed, but not being paid enough in order to make a living, so they’re being forced to choose between buying their children basic items of clothing, food or paying rent at the end of each month.
The solutions that need to be put in place to tackle this issue revolve around encouraging employers to pay a living wage to their staff and create flexible work hours, as well as put pressure on the council to create affordable childcare options and bring down the cost of living, according to Ms Churchill.
The London Child Poverty Alliance launched a manifesto in 2018, providing feasible examples of local policy that has been rolled out in other councils such as Bromley and Camden, in order to tackle child poverty and provide support for low income families, who while able to find childcare, might not be able to afford it due to London’s high costs of living.
“This manifesto seeks to put together a series of solutions to the challenges many hard-pressed families, children and young people face in the capital. We call on the Mayor to create an independent task force to ensure that effective action is taken to reduce child poverty in London,” according to their website.
The “Family Friend” manifesto for Local Authorities also focused on tackling food insecurity by providing the uptake of existing food policies and publicly-funded nutrition programmes that combat food poverty such as Healthy Start, free school meals and holiday food provision.
