Child poverty is sadly an issue with deep roots here in Wales, writes Cefin Campbell MS.

The statistics are truly shocking, and year after year, Wales consistently tops UK-wide child poverty league tables. This is a cause for national shame.

Long running trends are only being exacerbated by the current cost-of-living crisis, with rising food and energy prices driving more families into poverty.

The failure of successive Welsh Labour administrations to tackle child poverty is of grave concern to me and my Plaid Cymru colleagues, and we recently brought a motion on the matter to the floor of the Senedd.

While we may tend to think of it as an urban issue, the problem of child poverty is acute in rural communities across the length and breadth of Mid and West Wales.

Last year, Loughborough University published research on behalf of the End Child Poverty coalition that staggeringly found over a third of children in Powys lived below the poverty line.

 

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Child poverty in rural areas is driven by low income and poor economic outcomes, lack of access to public transport, food and fuel poverty, poor public service provision, high rents, and lack of affordable housing, among other factors. As the economic crisis intensifies, inevitably more families are set to endure severe hardship - and amid the relative affluence in parts of Mid and West Wales, child poverty often hides in plain sight.

Sadly, we know that child poverty has an impact that can last a lifetime. According to the Bevan Foundation, it has lasting consequences for mental health, self-image and self-esteem, physical health and educational outcomes.

It can also impact subsequent career paths and the ability to socialise normally, and it increases the likelihood of being involved in crime, as either the victim or perpetrator.

While the Tories in Westminster need to answer for the worsening deprivation across the UK, it is the Labour Party that has governed in Wales since the outset of devolution.

There is a risk that failure to tackle child poverty may become the legacy of the Labour party in Wales.

I would therefore reiterate the call that Plaid Cymru made during our recent Senedd debate on child poverty: for the development of a child poverty strategy as a matter of urgency.

The Labour Government should use the full range of powers at its disposal – including its tax raising powers, to tackle this dreadful blight on society.