Nursery World - Rise in children of lone parents living in poverty

The number of children in lone parent families in relative poverty is almost double that of children living in two-parent families, reveals new research.

More children in lone parent families are now living in relative poverty, while families with young children are particularly vulnerable to the cost in living crisis, according to two separate pieces of research, PHOTO Adobe Stock

According to the research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), in the year prior to the pandemic, nearly half (49 per cent) of children in lone-parent families were in relative poverty, compared to 25 per cent of children living in two-parent families. Relative poverty is defined as an income of less than 60 per cent of median incomes adjusted for household size.

The findings are taken from the IFS’ annual report into living standards, poverty and inequality, which is due to be published in full on 14 July.

The report, which is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, examines trends in child poverty that are not affected by the pandemic using data up to 2019-20. This is because the think tank says that during the pandemic, there were ‘radical’ changes to the labour market and temporary increases in benefits, which pushed down poverty rates in 2020-21. However, much of the support has been withdrawn, causing poverty rates to now ‘rebound’

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