Serina Sandhu16 hoursThe Duke and Duchess of Sussex have welcomed a healthy baby boy, who is seventh-in-line to the throne. Or should that sentence read: Woman gives birth to child?
If you agree with the latter, I suspect you don’t have a very high opinion of the Royal Family or don’t understand why out of 679,000 births in England and Wales every year, you should care about this one.
But I’m of the feeling the news is important.
Representing Britain
The new royal is the first biracial baby born into the royal family, which for years has been marked by white, upper-class members of the aristocracy.
A family that represents Britain and Britishness on the world stage has rarely looked like the people it supposedly stands for. I’m under no illusion that it suddenly does with the addition of Meghan Markle and the new baby, but the Windsors do not feel as far removed from society as they once seemed.
It has been said many times that this should not feel like a special development but for some people of colour, frankly, it is.
Refreshingly private
Prince Harry and Meghan have also gone about the pregnancy in a refreshing way. Perhaps by virtue of the fact the child is unlikely to ever get to the throne – with a grandfather, uncle, father and cousins waiting in line ahead of him – the couple have afforded themselves some privacy.
They kept their birth plans private and the Duchess has not felt the need to parade around with her newborn for cameras, just hours after the often difficult experience of giving birth.
The royal family may be in the public eye but their most intimate and personal moments are not public fodder. It’s a strong message the public and press would do well to remember for any famous face.
News break
Away from the symbolic nature of the birth, it feels like a welcome break to the news agenda, which of late has not been so, well, new.
Brexit has dominated front pages and headlines for nearly three years with a few intermissions of tragedy, death and destruction. This birth is good news, which sometimes there is just too little of.
Then again, you may question whether the Royal Baby is news at all. I’ll take one last go at persuading you.
Universal and unifying
On the most basic level, the birth of any baby is generally a happy occasion. I could not help but beam when Prince Harry, clearly elated and sleep-deprived, spoke about the arrival of their son. “It was amazing, absolutely incredible… And as every father and parent would say, your baby is absolutely amazing,” he said.
“But this little thing is absolutely to-die-for so I’m absolutely over the moon.” His words and sentiments are universal and, more importantly, unifying.
Hopefully now you won’t eye-roll as dramatically while reading our Royal Baby coverage…
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Mum-of-one Savannagh says she has had to wrap her baby son in blankets to keep him warm and rely on handouts to eat
Nilufer Atik5 daysIn brief
- Student had to give up work and studies temporarily after she fell pregnant
- Now living on £10 a week which she says isn't enough to feed herself and her baby
Two years ago Savannagh Burke was a fun-loving 19-year-old who’d just embarked upon a degree in Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation.
Ambitious and hard-working, she held down three jobs to pay for her studies and would save money to travel in between term times too.
“I loved travelling and wanted to see the world,” she told i. “I was very career-minded as well. I knew that to get ahead in life I had to work hard and have the determination to succeed.”
Savannagh’s dream was to go travelling and see as many countries as possible when she finished university, then return home and begin a career in forensics. But all that changed when she fell pregnant in June last year.
Barely managing
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Now a single mum, Savannagh, 21, lives in a small two-bedroom flat where she can’t afford to turn on the heating and some days has such little money she goes without food completely so she can feed her three-month-old son, Leo.
With only her statuatory maternity allowance and just over £200 a month in Universal Credit to live off, she is barely managing.
“It’s an awful situation to be in and so hard,” she said. “I love Leo so much and wouldn’t be without him but, financially, it’s such a struggle.
“After paying my rent and other bills I am left with around £10 a week to live off. That’s meant to cover food, nappies and clothes for Leo, as well as any other outgoings like travel. It’s just not possible.”
Savannagh was not planning to have children until much later on in life when she found out she was pregnant with Leo last year.
“I had only been seeing his father for a month and a half when it happened,” she explained. “I was on the pill and had a coil fitted too so it was completely unexpected.”
But despite the shock of her unplanned pregnancy, Savannagh felt Leo was ‘meant to be here’.
She left her mother’s home in Blackburn where she’d been living while studying, and moved in with her partner into a rented flat last September.
When Leo was born in February however, cracks began to show in their relationship.
“We’d gone from dating to being a family straight away,” Savannagh said. “It was a massive responsibility for both of us and very stressful. We were so young and neither of us had never lived with anyone before. We tried our best to make it work but it was doomed from the start.”
Just a few weeks later, the couple split up and Savannagh went to back to her mother’s house for a while. But, with a new baby, there wasn’t enough room there any more so she applied for housing through the council and was told there was a year-long waiting list.
At the moment I have to rely on donations and clothes from charity shops. I don’t eat myself some days so I can afford to buy him formulaSavannagh Burke
“I’d held down three jobs before I had Leo, working at a bank, a jewellers and in a pub. Even though I was a student I’d always had money and would earn around £900 a month with only minimal bills to pay at my mum’s.
“Now I had no income apart from the £580.72 a month I was getting in maternity allowance and £209 Universal Credit. That was the most I qualified for because I was on maternity.”
Savannah was forced to move to Accrington a few miles away from Blackburn where private rentals were cheaper. Despite finding a two-bedroom flat for £400-a-month however, she struggled to manage.
“I had taken out a five-year lease on a car before I fell pregnant and the repayments are £271 a month,” she explained. “With the rent added on too I have been left with just £118.72 a month to live off – a total of £29.68 a week. After taking out other bills that goes down to £10 a week.”
Savannagh has tried to get out of the lease agreement but was told she could only give the vehicle back if she paid a £5,000 penalty fee.
“That money would make a huge difference,” she said. “It would mean I could afford to buy Leo teething toys and clothes. At the moment I have to rely on donations and clothes from charity shops. I don’t eat myself some days so I can afford to buy him formula.”
Can’t pay
Her monthly costs on top of the rent and car repayments include £70 council tax, £29 home insurance, an average of £60 for gas and electric on a meter, £33 car insurance, an £70 in television and internet costs.
“I just can’t pay it all,” she admitted. “Where am I supposed to get the money from?”
Savannagh has had to rely on the kindness of her friends and family to survive, who bring food parcels round for her.
“My Gran did a little supermaret shop for me the other week and it’s gone already,” she said. “Just the basics like bread, milk, tea, formula and nappies but it is such a huge help.
“Friends have brought meals around for me to eat too which I am so grateful for. I have also had to use a food bank I’ve been so desperate.”
It was so cold when we first moved in and I had to wrap him up in lots of blankets and keep him close to me so he was warmSavannagh Burke
The one thing she has had no choice but to sacrifice however is warmth. With no money to pay for gas, Savannagh hasn’t been able to put the heating on at all now for weeks.
“It’s just too expensive,” she explained. “I can’t afford to top it up and the money I have on the meter I need for hot water to bath Leo.
“It was so cold when we first moved in I had to wrap him up in lots of blankets and keep him close to me so he was warm and wear lots of layers of clothing myself. We shouldn’t have to live this way.”
No support
Savannagh who is in her third year at the University of Central Lancashire, has had to put her degree on hold for the time being to care for Leo. And although she is still on good terms with his father, he can’t help them out as much as he’d like to.
“He still has to pay the rent on the flat we took out on a year-long lease so he doesn’t have the money either,” Savannagh explained.
And while she has tried to get help from the Department for Work and Pensions, Lancashire County Council’s crisis support scheme and Citizens Advice, she said she hadn’t yet had any support.
“My only way out now is to get back to work as soon as I can and start earning some money,” she said. “I have been thinking about having to get a full time job but I don’t know how I’m going to do that, care for my baby and carry on with my dissertation as I need to continue that while I’m having a break from University.
“I am planning to start my third year in January next year when the next term begins so will at least be able to get a childcare grant then and a student loan and some childcare support.
“The Government is always saying it wants to help get people back into work and help them get an education but the system is letting people down. It is designed to help the rich get richer and make the poor poorer.”
Crisis support
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “Ms Burke is getting the full amount she’s entitled to. We weren’t made aware of any concerns with her benefits, but have spoken to her to clarify her payments.”
Louise Taylor, executive director of adults services and health and wellbeing, said: “The county council crisis support scheme is designed to help individuals who are experiencing some form of hardship.
“Temporary support has been put in place to help with heating and food whilst the welfare rights service help this mum to check she is getting all the benefits she is entitled to.”
