Announced at the North East’s first Child Poverty Reduction Summit yesterday, we welcome the new measures designed to help more people into work, to support children who are living in hardship, and offer greater mental health support to the region.
The plans unveiled by North East Mayor, Kim McGuiness, included:
- A £50m investment package aimed at helping 13,500 people to find and stay in work
- £1.4m investment in helping parents and children including practical financial advice at the school gate, baby boxes for new parents and free after-school clubs and learning sessions
- A scheme that allows young people under 21 to travel on public transport for £1
Young people in the lowest income bracket are 4.5 times more likely to experience severe mental health problems than those in the highest. It’s a particularly pressing problem in the North East, with a quarter of children growing up in poverty in 89% of the region’s constituencies.
At Everyturn, we know firsthand the impact of poverty on mental health, with over 50% of the people accessing our crisis services saying that financial worries have pushed them into crisis.
We particularly welcome the Mayor’s commitment to help thousands of people into work. With 24% of people in the North East economically inactive in 2023, we need to break the cycle of unemployment and poor mental health. The economic benefits of the support are also clear: for every £1 spent on Moving On Tyne & Wear, one of Everyturn’s employability programmes, £1.99 of benefit was created in the local economy.
Adam Crampsie, Chief Executive at Everyturn Mental Health said:
“With such high levels of unemployment and economic inactivity being a significant challenge in the North East, we welcome these measures to tackle child poverty and address the practical issues that are affecting people’s mental health.
“With 50% of all long-term mental health problems starting by age 14, we need to ensure that this poverty cycle is broken. By preventing people from falling into poverty and providing accessible, community-level mental health support services for adults and young people, we can ensure people access vital mental health support before reaching crisis point.
“We look forward to continuing to work closely with the North East Mayor and regional partners to bring us closer to an inclusive economy and ensure that no one struggles alone.”