Covid has hit the younger generation hard. We are fundraising to fight child poverty, and support youth work and mental health
“She felt that she had to look after me and protect me.” This is how Christina, a mother with a severe disability, described her daughter’s reaction to a recent family crisis. Faced with threats of eviction, Christina was considering going back to her abusive husband. But advice provided by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) led to a transformation. After Christina’s housing benefit was reinstated, and her daughter was signed up for free school meals, the child’s sleeping problems eased and she became “much happier”.
The welfare advice service that helped them ran in 11 London primary schools last year. It is characteristic of the approach of CPAG, whose first press release was issued along with a letter to the prime minister, Harold Wilson, 55 years ago on Wednesday. CPAG seeks not only to alleviate but also to end child poverty, emphasising solutions, including social security reform, with a strong focus on evidence and rights. That is why, at the end of a year that has seen the number of children in poverty rise by 120,000, the Guardian and Observer chose CPAG as one of three beneficiaries of our 2020 charity appeal.
