Omprakash

  Speaking as an ally: Learning from people with lived experience of poverty ‘Poverty doesn’t make it harder to be a good parent. Parenting is hard regardless of poverty; what poverty does make hard is meeting the basic needs of the entire family.’ 1. Poverty is hard for the whole family In a society where inequality and discrimination are rampant, and the screws of austerity and budget cuts continue to twist, poverty makes life harder for every family member and for families as a whole. This past March, at a symposium run by Royal Holloway University of London, a parent activist from ATD Fourth World, Lareine Kenmogne, described how the pandemic has amplified the challenges of parenting in poverty. To begin with, keeping children home for a year has meant increased costs of groceries and heating, as well as the internet access required for their schooling. The financial insecurity exacerbated by these costs can lead to situations that Lareine called “invasive, degrading and humili...