poverty in the midst of plenty

Having to pull myself out of the numbness that sometimes surrounds me in highlighting the effects of poverty on people in poor countries, it is always particularly disturbing to witness the effects of poverty in those parts of the world where one would assume there is plenty for all: the Guardian reports on poverty as the primary cause for child mortality in the United Kingdom. 

In addition to the growing gap between rich and poor the report of British network End Child Poverty points out that poor families are at a factor 10 more likely to loose their child due to suddent infant death than better-off families. It also highlights a fact usually a standard in reports from developing countries: the underweight of children born into poor families.