Hear our voices: Experiencing poverty as a young family in London

London has the highest rate of child poverty in any UK region, with more than 800,000 children living in relative poverty. We spoke to one mother who shares how financial hardship affects her young family.

Westminster-based mother, Mary, and her children have been supported by St Vincent’s Family Project for over six years. She explains to the charity that poverty impacts her family’s ability to seek medical attention.

Mary says she struggles to get medical appointments for her family, has waited months to find the root causes of health issues, and has waited even longer to find a solution. Speaking from her own experiences, Mary also feels the amount of pressure on the NHS is causing doctors to not tackle people’s problems properly, but instead quickly dismiss them with medication.

Mary says if she has a higher income, medical attention would be her number one priority:

“Being able to get seen quicker and more efficiently for myself and my family is so important. If your mind and body are properly cared for, everything becomes more manageable as you feel you can function at your best,” Mary said.

Another area Mary spoke passionately about was education. She says the lack of funding for schools in London is affecting young families significantly:

“More and more schools in London are becoming academies and losing budgets and staff. The pressure on teachers and LSAs (learning support assistants) are becoming heavier than ever, and without enough resources and funding they struggle to perform at their best.

This affects the children and is possibly capping their potential, as well as putting more pressure on parents to step in where schools are failing, therefore creating a negative spiral,” Mary said.

St. Vincent’s Family Project has been supporting young families like Mary’s for many years, providing a safe space for parents to open up about issues they are having and access the help they need. Over the years, Mary and her children have benefited from many of St Vincent’s Family Project’s support services, from the Mellow Parenting programme to Healthy Eating classes.

Mary says the charity’s centre has become like a second home for her family to feel safe, loved and not judged. The services have helped her in many ways to feel stronger, more confident and hopeful for the future and her children growing up.

“This place and these people; it’s not a centre and staff, it’s a second home and family. Always will be for me and my family,” Mary said.

*Mary’s name has been changed for privacy reasons.