East London and Manchester have UK's highest levels of child poverty - research

Published by Jon Land for 24dash.com in Communities and also in Health, Housing

East London and central Manchester have the worst levels of child poverty in the UK, acording to new research.

A new child poverty map published today by the Campaign to End Child Poverty reveals Bethnal Green and Bow has the country's highest child poverty rate of 51 per cent, followed by Manchester Central (49 per cent) and Poplar and Canning Town (48 per cent).

The research also shows that Tower Hamlets is the local authority with the highest overall child poverty rate (52 per cent).

Meanwhile, David Cameron's Witney constituency in Oxfordshire (seven per cent), and Nick Clegg’s Sheffield Hallam constituency (five per cent), are among the areas with the lowest child poverty. They are part of a group of 89 constituencies that already meet the Government's headline target for 2020 by having child poverty rates of 10 per cent or lower.

Alison Garnham, Executive Director of the Campaign to End Child Poverty, said: “The child poverty map paints a stark picture of a socially segregated Britain where the life chances of millions of children are damaged by poverty and inequality. But it also gives us reason for hope.

"The child poverty target has already been met in the Prime Minister’s constituency and nearly a hundred others, so never let it be said that the targets are impossible to meet. If we can do it in Witney today, we can do it in Hackney tomorrow.

“The Prime Minister should make a New Year’s resolution to keep his pledge to ‘make British poverty history’ so that not just children in Witney, but children all over Britain can enjoy a childhood free from poverty.”

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that child poverty will rise by 400,000 children by 2015 unless the Government takes a more progressive approach to tackling the deficit.

Alison Garnham added: “Child poverty costs us billions picking up the pieces of damaged lives and unrealised potential, so it’s a false economy if we don’t prioritise looking after children today.

“Targeting cuts on families will prove both an economic and a social disaster, with businesses losing billions of pounds of demand and families struggling to keep their kids clothed, fed and warm.

“The Government urgently needs a serious plan to stop the rise in unemployment and to create jobs so that young people and parents can get out of the dole queue and into the workplace. We need a plan to target investment through the family purse to stimulate the economy, so that shops, services and businesses get the customers they need to stay afloat and recruit staff.”

The top 10 parliamentary constituencies for child poverty in the UK are:

1. Bethnal Green and Bow...51%    
2. Manchester Central...49%    
3. Poplar and Canning Town...48%    
4. Belfast West...46%    
5. Birmingham, Ladywood...46%    
6. Liverpool, Riverside...46%    
7. Islington South and Finsbury...46%    
8. Hackney South and Shoreditch...45%    
9. Birmingham, Sparbrook and Small Heath...45%    
10. Regent's Park and North Kensington...44%
    
The top 10 local authorities for child poverty in the UK are:

1. Tower Hamlets... 52%    
2. Islington...43%    
3. Manchester...40%    
4. Hackney...39%    
5. Westminster...38%    
6. Newham...37%    
7. Camden...37%    
8. Derry 13...36%    
9. Nottingham...35%    
10. Belfast...35%