1.3m people live in poverty across region, claims thinktank

THERE are now 1.3 million people living in poverty in the West Midlands, it has been claimed – including 400,000 children.

It means that in an average classroom of 30 children, ten are likely to be in poverty.

The figures, disputed by the Government, were published by thinktank, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

The foundation said the soaring figures follow a relentless rise in the number of working families struggling to make ends meet over the last five years. However, the chances of being in poverty are still much higher for a child if no adult in their household works.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation defines a family living in poverty if they have an income of less than 60 per cent of median income for their family type, after housing costs.

This includes all the family income, including wages, benefits and any other source of income.

It refers to the money left over after any tax is paid, including council tax, as well as contribu- tions to pension schemes, student loan payments and all housing costs.

The figures apply to the whole of the West Midlands region, including Worcestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Herefordshire as well as Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry and the Black Country.

But the Government the findings.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “We disagree with this report, and there are now one million fewer people living in absolute poverty since 2010, disputed including 300,000 children. With this Government’s changes, household incomes have never been higher, income inequality has fallen, taxes are down for families and businesses, and there are fewer children in workless households than ever before, boosting their prospects in life.”

Valerie Vaz MP, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and Member of Parliament for Walsall South, said: “Behind each statistic there are millions of lives in the West Midlands marked by the stress, pain and disruption of living in poverty.

“There is something seriously wrong when the number of people in work and in poverty is increasing faster than employment.

“Increasing numbers of children are growing up in poverty as their parents are unable to escape insecure work and low pay.

“This is proof, right here, that the Tories are failing the people of the West Midlands.

“Labour will end the social security freeze, introduce a £10 per hour Real Living Wage and build the affordable housing so desperately needed to lift people out of poverty.”