Nursery World - More than half of poor children in the UK are under five

More than two million families with children under five were living in poverty last year, official annual statistics show.

There are now 4.1 million children living in poverty, the equivalent of 30 per cent of UK children living below the poverty line.

According to the Household Below Average Income data for 2017/18, 53 per cent of poor children are aged under five (up from 51 per cent last year).

The figures for relative child poverty are measured as children living in households below 60 per cent of median income, adjusted for family size, after housing costs.

There has also been a rise to the number of poor children in working families, up from 67 per cent to 70 per cent.

More families with three or more children are also at risk of falling into poverty, up from 32 per cent in 2012 to 43 per cent.

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