Why I Started The First Publication Dedicated To The UK's Child Poverty Emergency

Know Child Poverty is a labour of love (and rage) - the fight for the 4.3million kids in poverty is on

Wait, what now?

Hiya! Know Child Poverty is a newsletter from me - journalist, Terri White - and the only publication dedicated to documenting the UK’s child poverty emergency in real-time. It will be (hopefully!) the home of human stories in an inhumane crisis, one that shamefully impacts 4.3million kids in our country. And that number is growing day on day, while the passivity and silence only grows too.

Me (Terri) at about 7 or 8 and no, cameras weren’t really our thing

Each day bring a deluge of news on child poverty, a whole bucketload of updates on things like the specific sadism on the two-child limit, the deep impact on a child’s mental and physical health, the trauma inflicted on mothers (and fathers), the numbers of kids being newly (preventably) pushed into poverty as I write these very words…But also, on the solutions at a policy level, the amazing work being done by charities, researchers and community leaders. Still, it can be a lot.

So, the idea is that Know Child Poverty will be a rolling news brand - providing regular updates/what you need to know - and a living document, updating and evolving week on week, to build a live child poverty narrative. And not one just about those living it, but built with them, in collaboration. If there’s one thing this country needs it’s to actually hear the voices of those in poverty and those living on a low income. And to perhaps hear less from the voices without experience or knowledge, just an appetite to attack the poorest in our country.

So! This won’t be the place for myths, tropes, misleading billy-bullshitting. Know Child Poverty will deal in facts, data and in those voices of knowledge and experience (professionally and personally). It’ll also be a place for those in need of help - to find sources of support.

The idea actually erupted when I realised I was spending time every day posting the latest child poverty news on social media, alongside hundreds of angry words that would just then disappear into the ‘content’ abyss

Howling into the wind, mate. What a waste. Especially when I could be posting my angry words (and more) here. I really hope you want to raise your voice with mine.

Wait, who now?

If we haven’t met, I’m Terri White, a journalist of 24 years (and counting) specialising in screen culture and social affairs, with child poverty a particular focus. I live at the foot of Saddleworth Moor in Oldham (in a constituency with a 48% child poverty rate) and spend much of my time hot with anger at how our country treats its poorest children.

Why so hot? I also grew up in poverty in the East Midlands in the 1980s and early 90s, so know the score. Well, kinda, though I can’t fully appreciate what today’s kids are living through. But I can hopefully help us understand it, confront the truth and brutality of it. And be part of demanding change. For child poverty is, after all, a political choice.

Here I am trying to demand change: speaking on the Child of the North/Health Equity North Labour Party conference fringe panel about child poverty

So, I am, BTW, righteously, unashamedly subjective - I know the pain of poverty, operate from a desire for social justice - while also proudly presenting the facts and data of journalism with ethics and objectivity. I believe in documenting with rigour and humanity (nope, not mutually-exclusive). We all have bias, different life experience, a personal lens, concerns that keep us up at night: I’m just upfront about mine.

While I’ve written about child poverty - across memoir, opinion, and policy and news analysis - for several years, in titles like The Big Issue, Grazia, The Guardian, Prospect, The Sunday Times Style, and Glamour, as the crisis has erupted, and I’ve deepened my work with academics, charities, youth workers, and those living on a low income, it’s become clear that more is needed.

And it’s also clear that a great deal of our media coverage - on the right, and otherwise - is insufficient and ill-informed. And filtered through a professional and upper-middle-class lens. One that would much rather train its eye on the ‘outrage’ of, say, private school VAT than on, say, the increasing mortality rate in children in deprived areas.

So, you know what they say: don’t just beg for a seat at the table, build your own. Well, I’ve got my spirit level out. Wanna give me a hand?

You can share this post if you like/wouldn’t mind. Alerting people to the existence of Know Child Poverty.

And I would love it if you would subscribe - for free, or as paid if you want to (can) help support my work. Regardless, everyone will receive all posts - in the name of accessibility, and with a desire to make sure the conversation around child poverty spreads far and wide.

Make sure you’re signed up to receive them, brothers and sisters. Thank you!