Child poverty map reveals wide disparities across UK

Published by Max Salsbury for 24dash.com in Communities and also in Local Government

A charity has published a UK child poverty map that reveals vast disparities between different parts of the country.

In London, the constituency of Poplar and Limehouse has a child poverty rate of 41 percent compared to seven percent in Richmond.

Likewise, in the North West, 38 percent of children in Manchester are poor, while in Ribble Valley the figure is a much smaller seven percent.

The Campaign to End Child Poverty's (CECP) figures are broken down by parliamentary constituency and local authority areas.

Both the Prime Minister David Cameron's constituency of Whitney and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg's seat of Sheffield Hallam Child are below the 10 percent target for 2020 in the Child Poverty Act.

Will Higham, Save the Children UK Director, said: “It is just wrong that almost half of all children, across swathes of our country, are growing up in poverty. These are children growing up on the edge or missing out on basic essentials; a warm home, decent clothes and enough food. These are tough times but every child deserves a fair chance and a good start in life.”

The top 20 parliamentary constituencies for child poverty are:

1. Manchester Central                                   47%
2. Belfast West                                              43%
3. Glasgow North East                                   43%
4. Birmingham, Ladywood                             42%
5. Bethnal Green and Bow                             42%
6. Liverpool, Riverside                                    42%
7. Poplar and Limehouse                               41%
8. Middlesbrough                                           40%
9. Blackley and Broughton                             38%
10. Newcastle upon Tyne Central                  38%
11. Leeds Central                                          38%
12. Liverpool, Walton                                     37%
13. Glasgow Central                                      37%
14. Hackney South and Shoreditch                37%
15. Manchester, Gorton                                  37%
16. Birmingham, Hodge Hill                             37%
17. Islington South and Finsbury                    37%
18. Nottingham North                                      37%
19. Edmonton                                                  37%
20. Birkenhead                                                36%

Enver Solomon, CECP's chair, said: “The child poverty map reveals the depth and breadth of child poverty across the country showing the gross levels of inequality that children face in every region. Far too many children whose parents are struggling to make a living are having to go hungry and miss out on the essentials of a decent childhood that all young people should be entitled to.

“The huge disparities that exist across the country have become more entrenched and are now an enduring reality as many more children are set to become trapped in long term poverty and disadvantage.

“Local authorities are having to deal with reduced budgets but they have critical decisions to make. We’re calling on authorities to prioritise low income families in the decisions they make about local welfare spending, including spending on the new council tax benefit, and on protecting families hit by the bedroom tax. This week we have written to local authority leaders in the local authorities with the most child poverty, asking them what they will do to tackle child poverty in their local area.

“The Government must also closely examine its current strategy for reducing poverty and consider what more it could do to ensure millions of children’s lives are not blighted by the corrosive impact that poverty has on their daily existence.’’