National Delegate Conference 21-24 June 2011

Challenging the disgrace of cuts and child poverty

Susan Kennedy

"Twenty seven per cent of children in Manchester live in severe poverty", Aberdeenshire's Susan Kennedy told Conference, illustrating that across the UK, four million children live in some sort of poverty.

Many of those live in households in which at least one adult is working - a dire reflection on the level of wages for many working people. And many of those workers are UNISON members.

"These deep and rapid cuts to benefits were not in any election manifesto. And now, nearly a year on, there are few people eft who don't know that these cuts are unfair and will hit the most vulnerable the hardest", said the motion.

"The speed and scale of the cuts are not an economic necessity, but a political choice and one that conference believes needs to be challenged at every level". Delegates called on the union to work with the "widest alliance", not only to oppose cuts but to plan for improvements to the benefit system and their political implementation.

Susan threw the spotlight on child poverty and the impact for our children of these cuts. She told conference that the UK already has one of the worst rates of child poverty in the industrialised world.

But even more sobering is the fact that 680,000 children in severe poverty across the UK live in households where at least one adult works. Some may well be the children of our low paid members.

"Conference, this government, like the last, could end child poverty if it had the political will to do it. The money is there - it's just in the wrong hands. All this amendment asks is that we are explicit about our commitment to campaign to ensure that no child in this country has to grow up in poverty", added Susan.

"Conference, the more we see of the policies of this Condem Government, the more we realise that this is becoming a question about what kind of society we want to live in. A society that prioritises the health, well-being and life chances of all our citizens and especially our children? Or a society which protects the wealth and opportunity of the privileged few?"

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