Child poverty soaring in the North East

Calls for government to tackle families’ hardship

THE North East has seen the biggest increase in children being pulled into poverty than anywhere in the UK, new research has revealed.

As the UK faces a growing economic crisis, worrying new data published by the End Child Poverty coalition has revealed the number of children in the region living in poverty has soared from 26% in 2014/15 to 35% just four years later.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic hit, more than one in three children were living below the poverty line, once housing costs were taken into account, in the majority of the North East parliamentary constituencies.

Middlesbrough, Newcastle Central and South Shields in particular saw the largest levels of child poverty in 2018/19.

At a local authority level, the highest rates of children living in poverty in the North East are in Middlesbrough (41%) and Newcastle (39%), closely followed by Hartlepool (37%), South Tyneside (37%) and Sunderland (36%).

In the past, low incomes in these areas were balanced by cheaper housing costs. But during the last five years, rents across the country have shot up – rising by the same amount as in London.

It has led to more families feeling like they have no option but to turn to food banks and becoming increasingly reliant on free school meals for their children.

Children in low-income families are more likely to experience worse physical and mental health, do less well in school and have fewer opportunities in the future.

The End Child Poverty coalition is calling on the Government to recognise the scale of the problem and to set out a credible plan of action.

Imran Hussain, director of policy and campaigns at Action for Children, said: “These deeply worrying figures reveal the true extent of the hardship families across the North East have been experiencing – and many were working before the pandemic hit. Children in this region are some of the most exposed to the devastating economic consequences of the pandemic.

“Action for Children key workers have been relentlessly delivering lifechanging support to families in the

North East who are desperately trying to keep their kids clothed and well-fed.

“With winter and the end of furlough looming, families across the region are set to be plunged into even deeper crisis.

“We must prevent a generation of children from being scarred by poverty and the pandemic. We’ll be there to support them this winter, but the Government must put a protective shield around struggling families and not go ahead with planned cuts to Universal Credit which would see families lose out on £1,000 a year.”

The research, carried out by Loughborough University, shows the true extent of the challenge facing the government if it is to realise its ambition to ‘build back better’ and level up opportunities for children across the UK. Amanda Bailey, director of the North East Child Poverty Commission, said: “These deeply concerning new figures must act as a wakeup call for Ministers on the scale of child poverty levels in our region even before the Covid-19 pandemic hit family incomes across the North East. “Any Government serious about ‘levelling up’ must recognise this pledge is absolutely meaningless if ever-increasing numbers of children and young people across our region are being left behind. We urgently need a credible Government plan to stem – and then reduce – this rising tide of child poverty.”

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “There are 100,000 fewer children living in absolute poverty than in 2009/10 and making sure every child gets the best start in life is central to our efforts to level up opportunity across the country.

“We have already taken significant steps to do this by raising the living wage, ending the benefit freeze and injecting more than £9.3 billion into the welfare system to help those in most need.”

We must prevent a generation of children from being scarred by poverty and the pandemic Imran Hussein, Action for Children