The heart breaking truth about children in temporary accommodation

Figures released by Birmingham City Council at the request of Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Roger Harmer show that the number of people in temporary accommodation (TA) continues to rise month on month. 

Responding to this, Cllr Harmer said:

“According to the 2021 census, there are 323,300 children aged 0-19 in Birmingham. In November, there were 9,968 children in TA. Using these figures, over 3% of our city’s children currently live in temporary accommodation. 

“What’s more, based on the recent trend, it is highly likely that we now have over 10,000 children living in temporary accommodation. 

“This is heart breaking. Behind these figures are children living in cramped conditions, often far away from friends and relatives, with shared access to cooking and washing facilities and no hope of privacy. This often continues for years until permanent accommodation is found. The knock-on effect this has on the rest of their lives is deeply worrying.” 

“Approximately half of the people in TA are children at any one time, but of course children are a much smaller population compared with adults, therefore children are fare more likely to end up in TA.

“In November, the total number of people in TA exceeded 20,000 for the first time. The official figure of 20,243 people in TA saw a worrying increase of 346 people in just one month. 

Since September, the amount of people going into TA appears to have accelerated month on month.”

“This month, we brought a motion on child poverty. One of the measures we recommended; the appointment of a child poverty commissioner, was removed by the Birmingham Labour group before the motion was passed. This is deeply regrettable because there’s no one person accountable. This person is needed to look at the causes behind child poverty. Almost all children in TA live in poverty. It’s a miserable existence and it needs urgent attention.”