Fighting for parents like me, and children like my son

Corinthia Ward, Birmingham North Socialist Party and Erdington TUSC candidate

Since becoming a parent in 2021 I’ve experienced first-hand the strained services and the limited future this system offers to my child. Starting with the overstretched and underfunded maternity services in the NHS (resulting in my birth requiring a caesarean) and my son having minimal health visitor checks.

With childcare costs being one of the most expensive in the world it was more cost effective to drop my working hours in half than to send my son to nursery. While this made economic sense for our household, coupled with the rise in the  cost of living, it meant we had more mouths to feed but on limited finances.

My partner and I have even held off having another child with our concerns of not being able to afford it.  Other families I’ve met are doing the same.

The child benefit cap is one weapon used against families. The Royal Family doesn’t stop receiving taxpayers’ money when they have more than two children, but working-class families are no longer allowed to access the small benefit which previous generations had fought for!

Keir Starmer has said a Labour government will keep this policy despite children’s charities raising the link of this policy to rising child poverty.

The disadvantages for working-class children don’t stop there. The Institute for Fiscal Studies reported that school funding per pupil, in real terms, is at 2010 levels, through funding squeezes carried out by the Conservative government.

My son and his generation face many hurdles. Capitalism only offers them student debt, increased privatisation and cuts in public services, unaffordable rent, work instability, climate crisis, and war.

Erdington covers some of the most deprived areas in Birmingham, and many families such as mine have to overcome more economic challenges than our parents or grandparents. This is one of the reasons I’m standing as a candidate in the general election.

• Only socialist policies can provide children with the right track for their early year’s development and provide families with the support they need:
• For a fully funded NHS – kick out all the privateers. Free training and bursaries to increase the number of midwives and health visitors.
• Scrap the child benefit cap and increase in line with inflation.
• For a free education system – from the cradle to the grave. Fully fund schools – give school staff a pay rise and invest in new school buildings