14th February 2008

"Figures showing that one in three children living in inner city Sheffield live in households are dependent on state benefits is not the full story. The most disadvantaged are often wrongly blamed for the problems that they face. People on benefits are often trapped by low wages, irregular working hours, delays in benefit payments or chronic health problems and are worse off when then get work. If we are really serious about ending child poverty we need to redistribute wealth and provide greater flexibility in the benefit system so that people in the poverty trap can play a valuable role in their community."

Councillor Bernard Little
Sheffield Green Party