Fears the pandemic pushing children further into poverty

The End Child Poverty Coalition published data today outlining the scale of the challenge faced by Government if it is to realise its ambition to ‘build back better’ and level up opportunities for children across the UK. 

Its research, carried out by Loughborough University, shows that child poverty has risen fastest in parts of the Midlands and Northern towns and cities in the past four years, with rates in Middlesbrough and parts of Tyneside soaring by over 10 percentage points since 2014/15.

The greatest concentrations of children living in poverty are in London, with London boroughs and parts of Birmingham dominating the list of local authorities where child poverty is highest. In a dozen constituencies in London and Birmingham, more than half the children are living below the poverty line, once housing costs have been taken into account.

Anna Feuchtwang, chair of End Child Poverty which commissioned the research, said that the Government can be in no doubt about the challenge it faces if it is serious about ‘levelling up’ disadvantaged parts of the country.

She added, ‘This new data reveals the true extent of the hardship experienced by families on low incomes – the overwhelming majority of which were working households before the pandemic. The children affected are on a cliff edge, and the pandemic will only sweep them further into danger.’