A shocked MP has reported that a schoolboy in her constituency was so hungry, he tried to eat a pot of his school's glue. Preet Gill, Labour MP for Edgbaston, was speaking about the devastating impact of the cost-of-living crisis on her poorest constituents, with food inflation running at nearly 15 per cent in September.
As reported on Birmingham Live, the MP told a committee parents were skipping meals and children were coming to school unfed. And she recounted how one headteacher told her how children were turning up 'a nervous wreck' to school and one boy was so hungry staff "caught him trying to eat a pot of PVA glue".
More than 100,000 children are living in poverty in Birmingham, the equivalent of 37 per cent of all children in the city, after housing costs. It is the second-highest rate of child poverty across the UK's core cities.
Ms Gill said: "In the year to September food and non-alcohol beverage prices rose to nearly 15 per cent, the highest rate in nearly 40 years. For many basics this is even higher.
"And for our poorest constituents the impact is even worse as more of their disposal income is siphoned away on the essentials. At this point we can all cite shocking tales from our constituency mailbag.
"I spoke to a headteacher in my constituency recently who told me they have children turning up to school a nervous wreck, having seen their parents skipping meals and unable to concentrate, often hungry themselves."
Poverty is defined as living in a family with an income 60 per cent below the median income, after housing costs. It means the family income is significantly less than the income of middle-income families.
