Town centre area is among worst in country for child poverty
AHYNDBURN ward has one of the highest levels of child poverty in the country with more than half of youngsters living below the breadline.
Central ward in Accrington has the worst child deprivation rate in the borough at 52.5 per cent - the equivalent of 666 children - and is the 46th worst out of thousands of electoral wards in the whole of the UK.
Research from the End Child Poverty coalition shows there are nearly 2,300 children across Hyndburn living in households struggling to make ends meet. Hyndburn’s overall rate of 33.8pc is the fourth highest in East Lancashire - behind Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley and Pendle.
Central ward councillor Mohammed Ayub said he was ‘really shocked’ by the figures and called for more money to be invested to improve the area. He said: “I’m really surprised about that. I wasn’t expecting it to be that much. We are constantly trying to improve the area and there are new housing developments being built in West Accrington. There are still issues to resolve. I think the council and central government need to put more money into Central ward to improve people’s lives.”
Spring Hill has the second highest level of child poverty in the borough at 46.8pc, with Church ward ranked third at 44.7pc.
The lowest levels of child poverty in Hyndburn are Baxenden on 14.4pc and St Oswald’s on 15.4pc.
Charity bosses say an increasing number of families are struggling to afford essentials - and claim things are only going to get worse with Universal Credit making life even more difficult for low-income households.
End Child Poverty has called for the four-year freeze on social security benefits, imposed in 2016, to end.
Sam Royston, director of policy and research at The Children’s Society, said: “It is scandalous that a child born in some parts of the UK now has a greater chance of growing up in poverty, than being in a family above the breadline.
“No family in modern Britain should be struggling to put food on the table, heat their homes and clothe their children.”
A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) spokeswoman said: “The best route out of poverty is through employment, and since 2010 an extra three million more people are now in work and 600,000 fewer children are living in workless households.”
They added that free childcare has been doubled – worth £5,000 per child each year – and working parents can get up to 85pc of childcare costs back under Universal Credit.