Being a child in England today is better in some ways than it has ever been - each child should expect a safe home, a free education and healthy food and places to play. Government is legally obliged to make sure every child can grow up with these things, and be protected from neglect and harm. But there are many children experiencing the sort of challenges you would hope had been overcome long ago in a relatively wealthy country - overcrowded housing, too little to eat in the holidays and health issues that they don't get enough support for. There are still more issues that younger generations are facing to a greater degree than children before them, such as constant pressure from exams and social media that cause anxiety, stress and other mental health issues that our NHS is struggling to respond to.

The National Audit Office recently published a chilling report on the rising numbers of children in need of help and the struggle of local services to meet their needs.

We will be updating this section with summaries of the issues facing many children today, grouped according to the priority areas of our democratically created members' manifesto England's Children.