One in six county children is living in poverty – and there’s far worse to come as living costs rise, warn charities

CHARITIES are warning of far worse to come as latest figures show one in six Leicestershire children was living in poverty last year.

Latest official figures show that 44,818 children in the county living below the breadline in March 2021, even before the cost of housing was taken into account.

The number has dipped from 49,347 in March 2020 thanks in part to financial support from the government during the start of the pandemic.

However, with the £20 uplift to Universal Credit gone, living costs rising, and benefits not keeping up, charities have warned the situation is likely to get much worse.

Prior to the pandemic, the number of children in Leicestershire living in poverty had been rising year on year, having increased from 42,377 in March 2015.

In all, 17 per cent of children in Leicestershire was living in poverty last year - and in some neighbourhoods the situation is even more stark.

In the St Matthews and Highfields

North area of Leicester, 46 per cent of children are living in poverty.

The figures include teenagers up to the age of 19 who are still living at home with their parents or carers and are in full time education or training.

The proportions are estimates based on DWP figures on the number of children in families with a household income of less than 60 per cent of the UK average as of March 2021, and population estimates from the Office for National Statistics as of mid-2020.

As the government only publishes local data on child poverty before housing costs, in some cases these figures are likely an underestimate of the number of youngsters living in poverty - particularly in areas with high rents.

Meanwhile, the figures also suggest that work is not a reliable route out of poverty - 32,336 of the children living below the breadline in Leicestershire last year had at least one working parent. That’s 72 per cent of the total number, which is up from 69 per cent in March 2015.

Imran Hussain, director of policy and campaigns at Action for Children, said: “These figures show the Chancellor’s

actions to boost incomes at the start of the pandemic lifted hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty.

“But the Treasury’s relative inaction to help families on low incomes in today’s cost of living crisis is likely to see any progress lost and child poverty climb again.

“As prices continue to rise, more low-income parents we support who were just about managing could go under, with no tips, tricks or hacks left to stretch their income over the month.

“Our new research shows nearly half (47 per cent) of children we polled from low-income backgrounds worry about their family’s finances as struggling parents are left to decide whether to put food on the table or heat their homes.

“As well as the current cost of living crisis, many families with children are still reeling from October’s £20-a-week cut to Universal Credit.

“Unless the government chooses to shield them now by protecting benefits from rising inflation, it will fail on its manifesto pledge to cut child poverty and millions of families will continue to face years of miserable hardship.” Across the UK, 2.8 million children were living in poverty before housing costs as of March 2021 - down from 3.2 million the year before. That still worked out as 19 per cent of all children in the country, down from 23 per cent.

After housing costs, that figure rose to 3.9 million (down from 4.3 million), which is 27 per cent of all children (down from 31 per cent).

The Govanhill West neighbourhood of Glasgow has the highest rate of child poverty in the country, before housing costs, at 69 per cent. Meanwhile, the lowest rate is in the Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Hyde Park area of Westminster, London, at less than 1 per cent.

The Treasury’s relative inaction to help families on low incomes is likely to see any progress lost. Imran Hussain, of Action for Children