More than half of children in parts of UK living in poverty, report says
19 May 2021, 08:56 | Updated: 19 May 2021, 09:39
The majority of children in some parts of the UK are growing up in poverty, a new report has found.
Research for the End Child Poverty Coalition - made up of charities, trade unions and faith groups - said rising house prices in London are pushing people to the brink.
The study revealed that eight constituencies had over 50 per cent of children growing up in poverty, once their family's housing costs are taken into consideration.
Top of the list of the 20 worst constituencies was Bethnal Green and Bow with 59.6 per cent, followed by Hackney South and Shoreditch at 56.3 per cent.
Chair of the coalition Anna Feuchtwang said: "The figures speak for themselves - the situation for children couldn't be starker.
"We all want to live in a society where children are supported to be the best they can be, but the reality is very different for too many."
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Vikki Waterman, a single mother of two from Durham who works full time, said: "Too many of us in the North East work twice as hard for half as much.
"We're not living, we're just about surviving."
The coalition also revealed that 60 per cent of the median income for a family of one adult and one child, after housing costs, was £223 a week in 2019/20, £280 for one adult and two children, or £400 for two adults and two children.
However, the government uses different ways to measure poverty levels in the UK.
It found that, between the period of 2009/10 and 2019/20, absolute child poverty – after housing - dropped from 28 to 25 per cent.
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Johnson: poverty has declined under this government
A spokesman said: "Latest figures show that the number of children in absolute poverty has fallen by 300,000 since 2010.
"We are committed to supporting families most in need, spending billions more on welfare and planning a long-term route out of poverty by protecting jobs through furlough and helping people find new work through our Plan for Jobs.
"We also introduced our £269 million Covid Local Support Grant to help children and families stay warm and well-fed throughout the pandemic."
Before the pandemic, the study by Loughborough University found that 4.3 million children were living in poverty in 2019/2020, which was up 200,000 from the previous year.
The figures shared by the coalition did not take the pandemic into account, but it will be shown in next year’s data.
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