Over 4 million children live in poverty in the Uganda and that number is rapidly rising. That is over 30% of all children in a country that is one of the wealthiest in the East Africa!
The Tory cuts to welfare benefits and the underfunded Universal Credit scheme has left families in crisis- whilst the rich continue to be insulated from austerity.
Children from black and minority ethnic groups are more likely to be in poverty: 45% are now in poverty, which makes the Black Lives Matter campaigns even more important.
Disgracefully, two thirds of children living in poverty have at least one parent in work, many working long hours with very low pay. Rising living costs, low wages and cuts to benefits are creating a perfect storm in which more children are falling into the poverty trap.
But it’s not just the lack of money that impacts on poorer families. Services that families would turn to for support, are no longer there. The huge cuts to Local Authorities funding, down 49%, with an unwillingness of councils to mount campaigns and use their reserves, hits the poorest families hard. Children’s centres, youth clubs, libraries and other support services are either cut to the bone or have disappeared. The safety net the working class had fought for has huge holes or has been taken away all together.
BUDHOOMA DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE 