Bradford parents in deprived areas speak of their fears

This was the horrifying picture painted by Bradford parents as they spoke about threats to children’s safety.

Their insight was used by researchers and academics, including those from the Bradford Institute for Health Research, who were looking at the lived experience of parents in high areas of child poverty in England. They also interviewed parents in the Tower Hamlets area of London.

The research looks at how issues inside and outside the home, compounded by things like delays in repairs and affordability issues are likely to “deeply affect the wellbeing of an entire generation of disadvantaged children whose parents can feel disempowered, neglected and often isolated”.

It says interventions that can improve the quality of housing, as well as access to space and services, are “urgently needed”.

The research shines a stark spotlight on the issues people face.

It says: “In Bradford, drug dealing, especially in deserted and neglected areas such as ‘little corners’, dangerous driving, no compliance with speed limits in residential areas and proximity to busy roads, drinking next to the park, vandalism e.g., people starting fires or breaking into the school, fights between groups of teenagers, issues with noise, racism, and bullying were mentioned as threats to children’s safety.

“In both areas, the fear of going outside was worst at night.”

One parent living in the BD9 area said: “There’s just always drug dealing, people drinking, smoking right next to the park.

“Because there’s so much going on, it’s not an environment you want … you’ve constantly got to keep your hand on your child’s hand.”

A parent in the BD4 area said “kids are bullying more” and “we live in a scary area and we are scared all the time, you never know who can bully you”.

On top of crime and safety fears are fears over the quality of housing, precarious housing, and inaction by landlords.

“Inside the home, a slow or complete lack of repairs and upkeep created a reduction in quality of life and health risks such as increased risk of allergies due to dust, breathing problems because of damp and mould and, for some Bradford participants, safety hazards and exposure to vermin,” it says.

A parent in the BD7 area said their children are poorly “all the time”. One had a recurrent chest infection, prompting their doctor to write a letter for them to send to the Council.

The parent said: “They came to my house and took pictures and then sent them to the landlord and said to them they need to do the work in two weeks.

“They (the landlord) said to me that I need to leave in two weeks and get another house.”

A parent living in the BD4 area spoke of how their kitchen ceiling had fallen down and the landlord refused to fix it and said it was not his responsibility.

And a parent in BD9 told researchers: “Because of housing situation and we had no financial support, all our source of income as benefits had stopped and we had no money for rent, so the landlord threw us out of the property, basically we had nowhere to live and that was the main reason for them to remove children from our care.”

Those who took part in the study in Bradford also spoke of their concerns over rubbish and litter.

The research paper says: “Most participants considered that the amount of rubbish and the associated foul smell and vermin made their gardens unsafe for children to play in and unsuitable for anyone to spend time in.

“The issues with rubbish were thought to be caused by the local council not emptying the outside bins regularly enough and cleaning up the streets and by neighbours’ neglect, lack of respect for the environment and misbehaviour (sometimes people threw rubbish into others’ bins or even put old furniture out on the street).

“Some participants mentioned a need for better information regarding how to recycle and dispose large household items.”

The paper says the study provides new insights into how the relationship between housing and the local environment impacts children’s health and wellbeing.

It says: “Findings emphasise how the wellbeing of individual children, their parents and the whole family can be deeply affected by these relationships, which often occur as a spatially patterned ‘cluster’ of problems, some of which act through feedback loops to reinforce their impacts on various dimensions of physical, mental, developmental and social health.”