Latest news with #lowincomefamilies
The Sun
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Thousands of households to be handed supermarket vouchers worth up to £150 in DAYS – are you eligible?
CASH-STRAPPED families in Camden are in line for free supermarket vouchers worth up to £150 per child this year — and payments start landing in DAYS. The support comes from the latest round of the Household Support Fund (HSF), which has been extended until March 2026 to help struggling Brits cover essentials like food and energy. 1 Under the scheme, families who get Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support — and have kids up to age 18 — can get vouchers three times a year to help cover food costs during term time. You'll get: £45 per child in February (Spring term) £60 in May (Summer term) £45 in September (Autumn term) That adds up to a whopping £150 per child, per year — and households with more than one child could be hundreds of pounds better off. But there's a catch — your child must be registered for free school meals, even if you already get benefits like Universal Credit or Tax Credits. So if you haven't signed them up yet, now's the time. The scheme is aimed at helping struggling families keep food on the table without falling further into debt. And it's not just food support on offer. Low-income pensioners in Camden are also in line for a £300 Post Office voucher to help with heating, food and other bills this winter — no application needed. There's more help available too. Residents can apply for an emergency payment of up to £500 if they're in serious financial difficulty and can't afford essentials. That's also funded by the HSF, but you'll need to register for Camden's Money Advice Service first. Once signed up, you can apply for both the emergency cash and vouchers — but only one application at a time. To apply or find out more, visit or call 020 7974 4444. Not in Camden? You could still be eligible. The government has dished out £742million in HSF funding across councils in England — so check your local council's website for updates. That means you may be able to claim free cash, supermarket vouchers or energy support from your local authority. Check your council's website for updates as more HSF schemes open up. Recently, households in Redcar & Cleveland have also been urged to apply for support worth £230. Whilst, those living in Worcestershire could be entitled to get up to £500 in cost of living help through the fund. Other help you can claim If you're not eligible for the Household Support Fund, you might qualify for other forms of help to cover energy bills or food. Support may vary depending on your local council – so even if you don't live in Cheshire East, it's worth checking what's on offer in your area. Several energy firms offer grants to households who are struggling to pay their energy bills worth up to £2,000. This includes British Gas, Octopus Energy and EDF. New parents might also be eligible for free food worth up to £442 a year to cover the cost of healthy food and milk via the Healthy Start scheme. Or, you can get an emergency food parcel from a Trussell Trust food bank. You can find your nearest via To get a food parcel, you need a voucher from a community organisation like Citizens Advice or your GP. You can then exchange this voucher for a food parcel at the food bank. It's also worth checking if you're eligible for benefits if you haven't already - billions of pounds' worth is going unclaimed, according to Policy in Practice.
South China Morning Post
21-05-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Diet plight of shoebox children Hong Kong's shame
The problems with subdivided living spaces in Hong Kong have been so well covered that there is probably no need for more reports to prompt tighter regulations. But a recent study on malnourished children living in such shameful shoebox dwellings is yet another reason for swift action by the government. Officials must not shy away from taking resolute and timely decisions to outlaw substandard units. According to humanitarian organisation World Vision Hong Kong, nearly four in five children in subdivided households suffer different degrees of insufficient nutrition intake. For instance, more than 86.4 per cent were found not to be eating enough dairy products and 76.2 per cent were not meeting the recommended intake of vegetables. Those who needed to consume more meat and grain accounted for 60 per cent and 49 per cent respectively. Serious concerns have been raised as the shortfalls are apparently higher than the average among local children. Adding to the problem is that low-income families may not realise children have poor diets until health problems, such as delayed growth and constipation, emerge.
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
‘The fans just circulate hot air': how indoor heat is making life unbearable in India's sweltering cities
At noon, Khustabi Begum is sitting on the steps leading to her three-room home, trying to escape the stifling April heat indoors. But respite is hard to come by in Rajendra Nagar, a slum in south Bengaluru. 'It's just as hot outside, but it feels worse indoors. It's been really hot for the past five or six days, but at least there's an occasional breeze outside,' says the 36-year-old. Inside Begum's dimly lit living room, ceiling fans whir. One corner is stacked with sacks of onions and just outside their home is a vending cart. 'My husband sells erulli, belluli [onions, garlic],' she says. The couple moved to Bengaluru more than a decade ago, hoping to give their three children a better education. With a nostalgic smile, Begum recalls her green and breezy village in Kishanganj district in Bihar state. 'It's actually hotter in our village, temperature-wise,' she says. 'But when it got unbearable, we would go and take a stroll by the river. Here, there's nowhere to go, just up and down this street.' While the government's heat advisories urge people to stay indoors between noon and 3pm, it's pointless advice for most families in Rajendra Nagar. 'The fans just circulate hot air,' she says. 'We keep drinking matke ka paani [chilled water from clay pots] and step outside from time to time, but there's nothing else to do to escape the heat inside.' Indoor heat is recognised as a serious health hazard for vulnerable groups. Among them are low-income families in informal settlements where poorly ventilated homes are built of heat-trapping materials, and have irregular electricity and water supply. Outdoors, there's little relief on offer because of limited access to green, open spaces. Bengaluru, a city of lakes and gardens, has seen a steady rise in temperatures in recent years, challenging its longstanding reputation for clement year-round weather. According to the Bengaluru Climate Action and Resilience Plan, the city's average temperature has risen by approximately 0.23C per decade since 1975, with a sharper increase of nearly 0.5C since 2009. In April, Bengaluru recorded temperatures of about 35C (95F). In Rajendra Nagar and nearby slums such as LR Nagar and Ambedkar Nagar, most homes are built on compact plots of roughly 300 sq ft, and each household typically has five to seven members. There are power cuts several times a week, lasting from a few hours to a few days, and water is available only on alternate days or even every third day. Running fans or cooling the body with 'spray bottles, damp cloths [or] ice towels', as a government heat advisory suggests, can be challenging for people in these neighbourhoods. Begum's home has one window, facing a quiet side road. However, the municipality recently began road building work and is widening the sewers. 'We open the window only during long power cuts,' her daughter Noor Nagina, 14, says. 'Otherwise, we have to deal with mosquitoes and dust from all the work.' Researchers at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bengaluru, point out that most heat action plans (HAPs) in India have overlooked indoor heat, especially in low-income and informal settlements. A review of 10 city-level HAPs, published in the journal Plos Climate, revealed that only two cities – Rajkot and Bhubaneshwar – explicitly acknowledged indoor heat vulnerability. 'Overall, while a few plans highlight indoor heat risks … there is a significant gap in comprehensive, scalable strategies to address these challenges,' says Swati Surampally, one of the review's authors. Poor ventilation does not help, says Radha N, who works with Rajendra Nagar-based NGO Swabhimaan. 'Most houses in the area have narrow, tunnel-like entrances, with rooms arranged one behind the other in a straight line. This leaves little to no space for air to circulate indoors and as a result, the concrete walls heat up,' she says. 'Children sometimes wake up crying because of the heat, power cuts and the mosquitoes. As a result, their parents, who spend most of the day working outdoors, are unable to get enough rest at night.' This, she adds, badly affects their ability to function the next day. Allamelu John, 39, a domestic worker, only cooks early in the morning and late at night in her home to avoid the smoke and heat that builds up in the afternoon. 'Our kitchens are small and lack exhaust fans, so it becomes very difficult,' she says. At night, her family sleeps on a bedsheet spread over a charpai (a traditional woven bed) on the floor, which, she says, is cooler than sleeping on mattresses. Across the city, in Kattigenahalli in north Bengaluru, Zakia Begum, 28, sits in a one-room shelter with a tarpaulin roof. She is seven months pregnant and the insufferable indoor heat in her previous tin-roofed home was one of the reasons she and her husband moved here. Sign up to Global Dispatch Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team after newsletter promotion Originally from the Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, Zakia has lived in Bengaluru for nine years. Her husband works as a truck driver with a contractor transporting the municipality's waste. Zakia quit her job as a domestic worker to look after herself during her pregnancy. Their room is part of a cluster of shanties built on open land among scattered heaps of waste. 'This summer feels different; there's no breeze,' she says as a small table fan whirs beside her. 'Sometimes, I sit by the door hoping for some air, but that's rare now. The only thing I can do is drink lots of water.' Most families in Zakia's neighbourhood depend on tankers for water or buing in limited supplies. While Begum washes her face and hands often to stay cool, she knows she must use water carefully. Migrant women's experiences of indoor heat have come up in research by the IIHS and its partners. The project, Climate Change Local Adaptation Pathways (Claps), found that indoor heat disproportionately affects women, who shoulder paid work and unpaid domestic responsibilities. 'Women face a triple burden: they manage paid work alongside domestic chores, endure prolonged exposure while cooking in unventilated spaces, and often eat last or inadequately, heightening fatigue and health risks. Together, these factors make indoor heat a deeply gendered and under-recognised health challenge,' says Surampally, a senior research associate at IIHS, also working with Claps. Kavita G, a social health activist who works in Rajendra Nagar, says: 'Women often come to us with problems like itching, skin infections and a burning sensation while urinating, especially during periods of extreme heat.' Older people are particularly vulnerable to heat-related illnesses – including severe dehydration and heatstroke. Researchers at IIHS say responses to extreme heat must address the structural vulnerabilities that migrant workers face – in their homes and at work. Surampally emphasises the need for heat-resilient housing through subsidies for cool roofs and improved ventilation; access to reliable electricity and water; enforcement of labour protections such as rest breaks and hydration for outdoor workers; and multilingual campaigns tailored to migrant communities. 'Many migrants compare Bengaluru's heat to their even hotter native towns and, therefore, underplay its risks,' Surampally says. 'This perception, along with limited financial resources, means that the urgency to adapt is low, even when physical discomfort is high.' After spending on rent, daily expenses and the children's schooling, Khustabi Begum's family might be able to save a little in a month when the profits are healthy. But this doesn't happen often, given the fluctuating prices of vegetables. 'We cannot afford a cooler or a fridge because we have to prioritise our children's education,' she says. To escape the heat, small children in Rajendra Nagar often roam around naked and Begum laments the unfairness of how her husband and two boys sleep with their shirts off – a comfort not afforded to her and her daughter. 'Women do not have that option,' she sighs. This story first appeared in the Migration Story, India's first newsroom to focus on the country's vast migrant population. The reporting was supported by People First Cities which is undertaking a project on rising heat in informal settlements
CBS News
13-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Head Start providers uncertain about program's future based on federal budget proposal
Many low-income families rely on Head Start to not only give their children early access to education, but also to give parents access to child care. The program celebrates its 60th birthday this week, but some fear it could be the last based on a Trump administration budget proposal that would eliminate it. For many of the parents who now take their kids to Head Start, they also had access to this resource growing up. If the program doesn't receive funding in the next federal budget, parents might be left with no affordable child care option while their kids face increased risks of heading down the wrong path in life. "The healthy mental awareness she has at such a young age, it's very impressive to see her, how she handles her emotions and how she describes them," said Head Start parent Angelica Olvera. It's one of the behaviors that stand out for Olvera's daughter after spending time in Head Start. One study suggests Head Start kids enter kindergarten more prepared and with better math and literacy skills. Another study found that Head Start kids are 31% less likely to end up in jail or prison as young adults. It's not clear if Head Start will be an option once the next school year starts. "Right now, we don't know what funding will look like on July 1. We haven't heard from the federal government about funding. That's going to have a big impact if we don't hear about our funding. Most agencies will have to close their doors," said Starfish Family Services Executive Director Jennifer Jonika. A Center for American Progress report says federal funds afford free childcare and early education for 25,000 Michigan children. While the next federal budget is far from finalized, Jonika says there are still concerns that any cuts to Head Start will just be passed along to low-income parents. "Daycare and preschool costs a lot. Most families cannot afford the costs of daycare or preschool. So, that's why Head Start is important across the country," she said. It's not just the idea of Head Start programs shutting down, but it's also the reality in some cases. Five Head Start regional offices, including the one that oversees us in Michigan, had to close following U.S. Department of Health and Human Services layoffs on April 1.
