Call the midwife

 

The Christmas episode of call the midwife Depicted a mother giving birth in pitiful conditions. The midwife attended the birth in a room shared with all of her children sleeping on dirty mattresses and with candles for lighting. The scene is set in 1969. Surely this level of poverty is more Victorian than 1969?! 

Having moved from London in 1973 with my family to a London overspill town in Essex I decided to research the scenes authenticity.

In 1960, the Greater London Plan proposed that over one million Londoners should be relocated from Inner London. The great majority of overspill families were relocated either to existing or new towns within south east England

In 1964 the Greater London Council GLC began building HOUSING Estates in market towns in the southeast - notably Essex Northamptonshire Norfolk, et cetera. In the course of this research I uncovered this quote from a family that had moved to the same town as me in the same year;

“I had lived in two rooms in Holloway, with an outside toilet shared by other tenants; the only hot water was an Ascot. So when offered a house on Templars I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

Having spent a lot of time in GLC homes as I grew up I know precisely why she thought she had died and gone to heaven. Each of the homes on the estate was a large three bedroom semi. They each had a garden. And a downstairs toilet. Indoors. The estate had playgrounds for the children and community facilities for sports and events. 

Wonderfully, during the course of my research, I also found a photograph of my own mother. And me, aged around 4 years old, at the opening ceremony of the new community centre.

I even found reference to the term my mum always used, which was ‘slum clearances’

An overspill estate is a housing estate built at the edge of an urban area, often to rehouse people from inner city areas as part of slum clearances.^[1][2][3] They were created on the outskirts of most large British towns in the 20th century.^[4][3][1]  

areas of housing were demolished and replaced with new houses that were aimed towards aspirational tenants, rather than for residents that had formerly lived in the area.^[28] 

I’ll try not to take The reference to removing me as insufficiently aspirational personally!

Here is what I do aspire to

as human beings, our well- being is linked to each other. Growing inequality is detrimental to economic growth and undermines social cohesion, increasing political and social tensions and, in some circumstances, driving instability and conflicts.

Strong social protection systems are essential for mitigating the effects and preventing many people from falling into poverty. to achieve the Goals, countries will need to implement nationally appropriate universal and sustainable social protection systems for all.

What can I do about it?

As a citizen

Be active in your government’s choices. Vote at the election elections. Lecture MP know reviews.

Governments can help create an enabling environment to generate pro- productive employment and job opportunities for the poor and the marginalized.

As an employer or employee

The private sector has a major role to play in determining whether the growth it creates is inclusive and contributes to poverty reduction. It can promote economic opportunities for the poor.

As A scientist or engineer.

The contribution of science to end poverty has been significant. For example, it has enabled access to safe drinking water, reduced deaths caused by water-borne diseases, and improved hygiene to reduce health risks related to unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation.

Link to the social development, sustainable development goals

Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030

All forms of poverty. Everywhere. The UK is a tiny island in the ‘west’. And the 1970s were 50 years ago. 

If current patterns persist around 575 million people – could still find themselves trapped in extreme poverty by 2030, with a significant concentration in sub-Saharan Africa.