Kat Baldwyn, May 18 2011
MORE than one in three children in Birmingham are living in poverty with thousands believing they will never achieve their goals in life.
A new, disturbing report from youth charity The Prince’s Trust revealed that in Ladywood alone around 49 per cent of youngsters lived in poverty – one of the highest figures in the UK.
It highlighted the growing gap between the city’s richest and poorest with one in ten young people believing they will “end up on benefits for at least part of their lives” and 17 per cent feeling that “few” or “none” of their goals in life were achievable with those growing up in poverty more likely to feel that way.
Kathy Williams, regional director for The Prince’s Trust, said: “The aspiration gap between Birmingham’s richest and poorest young people is creating a ‘youth underclass’ – who tragically feel they have a bleak future.
“We simply cannot ignore this inequality. The Prince’s Trust is helping the city’s most disadvantaged young people build the skills, self-esteem and aspirations they need to free themselves from a life of poverty and unemployment.”
One of the people the charity has helped is 25-year-old Naomi Spencer who grew up on a deprived estate in central Birmingham.
Naomi dreamed of becoming a police officer but as she got older she came to believe that people like her didn’t work, as no-one on her estate had a job or money.
After school Naomi secured a job in clothes shop but was made redundant and remained unemployed for more than two years, despite applying for anything she could.
But three years ago, with the help of The Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme, Naomi gained the business skills she needed to launch her own business, Candy Bubbles, selling home made cakes and balloons.
Naomi said: “The Prince’s Trust has turned my life around by giving me an amazing opportunity to break out of the cycle of poverty. Without them I’d probably still be unemployed and struggling financially.”
Official figures show that 72,000 people aged 18 to 24 are unemployed in the West Midlands, an unemployment rate of 20 per cent – twice the average adult unemployment rate in the region.
Economist Fionnuala Earley, from The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, said: “By helping young people into jobs and enterprise, we can not only help them to escape poverty and change their lives for the better, but we can help to break down the pattern of low aspirations. This will reap wider benefits for the UK economy both now and in the future.”
www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/05/18/a-third-of-children-in-birmingham-living-in-poverty-97319-28711899/#ixzz1NC4lGfv7
MORE than one in three children in Birmingham are living in poverty with thousands believing they will never achieve their goals in life.
A new, disturbing report from youth charity The Prince’s Trust revealed that in Ladywood alone around 49 per cent of youngsters lived in poverty – one of the highest figures in the UK.
It highlighted the growing gap between the city’s richest and poorest with one in ten young people believing they will “end up on benefits for at least part of their lives” and 17 per cent feeling that “few” or “none” of their goals in life were achievable with those growing up in poverty more likely to feel that way.Kathy Williams, regional director for The Prince’s Trust, said: “The aspiration gap between Birmingham’s richest and poorest young people is creating a ‘youth underclass’ – who tragically feel they have a bleak future.
“We simply cannot ignore this inequality. The Prince’s Trust is helping the city’s most disadvantaged young people build the skills, self-esteem and aspirations they need to free themselves from a life of poverty and unemployment.”
One of the people the charity has helped is 25-year-old Naomi Spencer who grew up on a deprived estate in central Birmingham.
Naomi dreamed of becoming a police officer but as she got older she came to believe that people like her didn’t work, as no-one on her estate had a job or money.
After school Naomi secured a job in clothes shop but was made redundant and remained unemployed for more than two years, despite applying for anything she could.
But three years ago, with the help of The Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme, Naomi gained the business skills she needed to launch her own business, Candy Bubbles, selling home made cakes and balloons.
Naomi said: “The Prince’s Trust has turned my life around by giving me an amazing opportunity to break out of the cycle of poverty. Without them I’d probably still be unemployed and struggling financially.”
Official figures show that 72,000 people aged 18 to 24 are unemployed in the West Midlands, an unemployment rate of 20 per cent – twice the average adult unemployment rate in the region.
Economist Fionnuala Earley, from The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, said: “By helping young people into jobs and enterprise, we can not only help them to escape poverty and change their lives for the better, but we can help to break down the pattern of low aspirations. This will reap wider benefits for the UK economy both now and in the future.”
www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/05/18/a-third-of-children-in-birmingham-living-in-poverty-97319-28711899/#ixzz1NC4lGfv7
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