37 per cent of Dudley kids not ready to start school

Figures from 2022/23 presented to Dudley Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee show 37 percent of borough children are not prepared to start education and the figure rises to 56 percent for children eligible for free school meals.

The draft report on how the borough aims to tackle the effects of poverty over the next decade also says more than a quarter of Dudley children under two live in families on a low income.

In the report’s foreword, Councillor James Clinton, Dudley Council's cabinet member for health and well being, said: “Financial wellbeing and health are intertwined: poor financial wellbeing can have a negative effect on an individual’s wellbeing, and poor health can lead to poverty.

“Dudley should be a place where everyone can experience a decent quality of life, including access to essential items, clean and safe housing, healthy food, transport, and a job that pays a living wage.” 

The report says the borough is ranked at 73 out of 317 local authorities for low incomes but 32 percent of Dudley people live in areas where income deprivation is among the highest in England.

The groups hardest hit include single parent households, people with disabilities or mental health problems, ethnic minorities, migrants and the elderly.

Problems related to poverty can result in poor performance at school, children on free school meals scored around eight to 10 percent lower on the Attainment 8 scale than all youngsters.

School absence rates are higher in Dudley at 7.7 percent compared with an average of 7.4 percent across England.

Rotten teeth is also a postcode problem, in the St Thomas’s, St James’s and Castle and Priory areas of Dudley more than a third of five-year-olds had visible tooth decay compared with eight percent in better-off areas.

The draft strategy, which will go before the council’s cabinet at a later date, identifies three priorities; preventing poverty, helping people out of poverty and mitigating the impact of poverty.