The Week Junior UK – 03 August 2019

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3August 2019•The Week Junior

REX SHUTTERSTOCK

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orethan two million children in the UK have

been living in poverty for at least two out of

the past three years, according toanew study.

Research shows that 14.3 million people live in

poverty in the UK, meaning that oncethey have paid

thecosts of their housing, heating and childcare, they

have less money left overcompared to the amount

the average UKfamily has.

Agroupcalled the Social MetricsCommission

(SMC), which measures poverty in the UK, has

been looking at the issue for three years and uses

information to track how the situation has changed.

Of the 14.3 million people now living in poverty,a

thirdofthem areindeep poverty.This means they

have less than 50% of the money the averagefamily

has to spend. In money terms, this meansacouple

with two children in deep poverty has £211aweek to

spend after paying for their home, andasingle parent

with one child has less than £101.50aweek.

In comparison, Government statistics show that

the average household spent £572.60each week in

2018, the highest figuresince2005.

The SMC added that seven million people,

including 2.3 million young people, areliving in

persistent poverty,which means they have been in

poverty for at least two of the previous three years.

Many of thesefamilies will not have enough money

to let their children join in with activities such as

school trips, and some parents may have trouble

paying for new clothes or school lunches.

After publishing the figures, the SMCcalled on

the new Prime Minister,Boris Johnson, to takeaction

on poverty.They said hecould help tackle the issue

by increasing state benefits (money given to people

in certain circumstances to help them meet their

day-to-day living needs) that help workingfamilies

in need. Some of these benefits haven’t increased in

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“The new Prime Minister’s firs

Impress the cat” BBCNews

THEWEEK’SSILLIESTHE

Duchessguest editsVogue

M

eghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has guest

edited the September edition of the monthly

fashion magazineVogue.TheissueistitledForcesfor

Changeandthecover features 15 different women

whom Markle finds inspirational. These include the

climate activist Greta Thunberg and NewZealand’s

prime minister,Jacinda Ardern. Thereisalsoasmall

mirror,sothat thereadercansee their ownface

alongside the 15 trail-blazingcover stars.

Cooling tower demolished

O

n28July,acooling tower atFerrybridgeCpower

station inWest Yorkshirewas demolished. A

cooling tower isalarge,round building that is used

to cool water from power stations. Thiswasthe first

step inaplanned demolition of the whole site; four

othercooling towers will be knocked down in October.

The power plant produced electricity for morethan

50 years beforeitwas closed in March. At its peak it

supplied energy to almost two million peopl

Comedy Roman

pen found inLondon

A

Roman pen, which hasajoke

etched into its side, has been

discovered inLondon. The iron penwas

found in anexcavation that took place

between 2010 and 2014, but analysis

on it has only just beencompleted.

The pen dates back to around AD70.

Part of the message written on the

side of the pen says, “I bring you a

welcome gift withasharp point that

you mayremember me.”Italso

mentions that the buyer

has an empty purse after

spending their money on it.

Millions of children in UK living

in po verty,new study finds

Many young people in

the UK live in poverty.

W

A

Larry thecatlives with

the Prime Minister.

The Roman

pen.

it

The tower

crashes down.

Meghan

Markle