We need family hubs in every community to lift parents and children out of poverty
Family hubs offer a single place for families to go for support and information from a variety of services (Alamy)
4 min read
The government must support families and help lift them out of poverty by investing in a family hub in every community.
For struggling parents, family centres can be the "village" it takes to raise a child. As I always say, "childhood lasts a lifetime". The experiences and opportunities we have as children shape who we are as adults – through our access to education, the attachments we make, the food we eat or our physical and mental health.
Parents across the country are doing their utmost to give their children the best start, and go on to live happy, fulfilled, successful lives.
I remember when I became a mother, how daunting it felt to be responsible for raising a child – and how much I benefitted from support when I needed it.
Sadly, for families across the country, access to the help they need has become more difficult. And while raising children has never been easy, it’s got even harder, with many families struggling to cope.
What families need is support in their community, at an early stage and before they reach crisis. But a new report released by Barnardo’s today (24 June) shows the number of family hubs and children’s centres has taken a nosedive.
These one-stop shops are where families can get support for a range of issues and can act as the "village" it takes to raise a child.
Parents can come for a 'stay and play’ session and, in the same familiar and welcoming environment, receive help with breastfeeding, talk to a health visitor, receive support with speech and language, attend a parenting course, or even access highly specialist help with issues like domestic abuse and substance misuse.
Importantly, support is free and available to anyone expecting a child or with children from birth to adulthood.
As one mum put it, "without the centre I would be back to crying on the school run and having outbursts of 'I can’t cope'. I would be lost.”
But Barnardo’s, which supported 223,867 children, young people, and families through its family centres in 2023-24, collected Freedom of Information data from 108 local authorities in England. The data shows the number of centres has declined by a third since 2009 – that’s around 1,000 fewer over 15 years.
Sadly, for families across the country, access to the help they need has become more difficult
As well as being an immediate lifeline for families, children’s centres can also deliver significant long-term benefits. The Institute for Fiscal Studies recently found that access to a Sure Start centre for children under five improved educational achievement, reduced child hospitalisations and reduced the likelihood of committing a crime in adulthood.
They can also save money – Barnardo’s estimates at its Sandwell hub in the West Midlands, that for every £1 spent in its Welcome to Parenthood programme, £2.44 is saved by the state.
But with council budgets stretched – often to breaking point – limited funds are necessarily redirected to help children at immediate risk or who have already been harmed.
While absolutely vital, this late-stage help is expensive, and councils currently spend around 11 times more on this, than on early intervention.
Reinvesting in universal support for families is the only way to deliver the government’s ambitions of opportunity for all and for this generation of children to be the healthiest ever.
It’s crucial that its child poverty strategy, expected in the autumn, includes a commitment to develop a network of 3,500 centres across England, bringing it in line with the number of Sure Start centres running at the programme’s height.
It would allow families to access free community-based help when and where they need it – "just a pram push away".
I understand that investment in a hub in every community is a significant ask, but by doing this, the government can support families, help lift them out of poverty, improve children’s life chances and make savings for the taxpayer.
If childhood lasts a lifetime, then so does the impact of childhood poverty. We need to invest now to make sure a generation of children can grow up safe, happy, healthy and help them to keep smiling.
Baroness Floella Benjamin is a Liberal Democrat peer and Vice President of Barnardo’s
