Child Poverty

Back To My Plan

Our most important challenge

No issue matters more than this. One in four children in Rhondda and Ogmore – around 5,000 young people – are growing up in poverty. That’s higher than both the Welsh and UK averages. And it affects every aspect of their lives.

This is not just about data. It’s about empty cupboards, cold bedrooms, and families forced to make impossible choices. The issue of child poverty keeps me up at night.

Why is this happening?

Income deprivation is the biggest factor. Rhondda has the highest rate in Wales; Ogmore isn’t far behind. Families are working hard, but wages and benefits often don’t stretch far enough.

Benefit payments can help bridge the gap, but they’re not a long-term answer. Families don’t want handouts – they want security, decent jobs, and the dignity of self-reliance.

Then there’s the housing crisis. Since 2018, evictions have soared by 65%, and temporary accommodation placements have risen by 69%. The cost of emergency housing has shot up by 475%, showing just how many families are being pushed to the edge. Without a stable home, everything becomes harder – work, school, health, and mental wellbeing.

The geography of our constituency also plays a role. The higher up the valleys you go, the worse the poverty becomes. Some areas, like Williamstown West and Hendregwilym, are among the most deprived parts of the UK. While Ogmore is statistically better off, young adults here face significant challenges, with the constituency ranking 9th worst in Wales for income deprivation in the 19-24 age group.

Poverty is Not Inevitable

It’s important to recognise that things can get better. When I was first elected as your MP, child poverty in South Wales was around 33%. By 2018 that figure had fallen to 18%. That seemed like real progress. But then came the pandemic, and those hard-won gains were lost with too many families living just above the poverty line without the safety and security to protect themselves from nasty shocks. Now, absolute child poverty in Rhondda and Ogmore stands at 21.5% – higher than both the Welsh and UK averages.

A Long-Term Mission

There is no single fix for child poverty, no silver bullet, no one-size-fits-all solution. All families’ struggles are different. Some have a roof over their heads but jobs too insecure to rely on. Others work long hours but are paid too little to get by. Some want to work more but can’t afford childcare, while others face health issues or lack the support to move forward.

We can’t keep patching the problem with short-term fixes. Upping benefits might ease the pressure for a while, but it’s like pouring water into a bucket full of holes. Unless we tackle the root causes – unless we fix the holes – we will keep people in the poverty trap under a veneer of kindness that we are helping them.

The only real solution is long-term change. Better wages, secure housing, affordable childcare, strong healthcare, and real opportunities. These are big challenges, but they are not impossible.

Labour’s mission has always been to lift people out of poverty. It is the hardest thing to do in government because it has so many causes, but it is also the most important. In many ways, this whole document is about that one goal. Jobs, housing, healthcare, education – everything comes back to building a society where no child grows up in hardship, where every family has the security and opportunity they deserve.

What Needs to Change

  • Ensure every family can access affordable, secure housing
  • Expand access to affordable childcare and early years support
  • Clear education, training, and employment pathways for all including young people
  • Strengthen income support for working families and reduce benefit reliance
  • Targeted resources for the most deprived wards in Rhondda and Ogmore.

My targets for Rhondda and Ogmore

  • Reduce child poverty in Rhondda and Ogmore to under 20% by 2030 and under 18% by 2035.
  • Increase take-up of benefits among those who are eligible but not currently claiming.
  • Support Universal Credit recipients into secure, sustainable employment so they too can benefit from well-paid work.
  • End mass dependence on emergency food banks.

Action from the Labour Government

  • Establish a new Child Poverty Unit in the Cabinet Office, bringing together experts and Ministers to tackle the wide-ranging causes of child poverty.
  • Implement an ambitious child poverty strategy so every child has the best start in life.
  • Ban exploitative zero-hour contracts, delivery statutory sick pay and workers rights from Day One and move family breadwinners into good work.
  • Free school meals to every primary school in Wales and direct support to families through the School Essentials Grant

My Local Action Plan

  • Help residents to find well-paid work, secure careers and opportunity through job fairs, CV-writing workshops and 1:1 support.
  • Run an annual benefits take-up campaign to raise household incomes
  • Expand awareness of the Designed to Smile
  • Partner with schools, youth clubs, and foodbanks to distribute free toothbrushes, toothpaste, and information leaflets.
  • Provide targeted casework support and surgeries in poorer wards
  • On-hand support to manage debt, emergency funding support and financial advice.