Poverty shock
MORE than half of children are growing up in poverty in parts of Newcastle.
In the three city wards of Westgate, Wingrove and Elswick, more than 50% of children are living in households which are in poverty. In Newcastle’s Byker ward the figure is 49%.
Just under half of children, 48%, are in poverty in the South Tyneside ward of Beacon and Bents.
The ‘shocking’ figures are revealed in a new report by the End Child Poverty Coalition, which includes organisations such as Barnardo’s, the NSPCC, Save the Children, Shelter and more.
The figures are estimates produced by experts at Loughborough University, who examined statistics such as tax credit data. The government publishes official child poverty statistics, but it does not provide detail at local level.
The End Child Poverty Coalition defines poverty as living in a household with an income (after housing costs) which is less than 60% of the median income for other households with the same number of people.
In practice, it means children are in poverty if the household has significantly less money than most other similar households.
There are huge variations. Newcastle wards such as North Jesmond, South Jesmond and Parklands have low levels of poverty.
Across the whole of Newcastle, 36% of children are growing up in poverty.
The figure in County Durham is 28% and in Gateshead it is 27%.
In North Tyneside, 25% of children are in poverty.
The figure in Northumberland is 24%, in South Tyneside it is 32% and in Sunderland it is 30%.
Sam Royston, chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition, 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.
“There can be little doubt that the government’s policy of maintaining the benefits freeze despite rising prices is a major contributor to the emerging child poverty crisis.”
Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah said: “These shocking figures show that, whilst the rich have got richer, the most vulnerable children in Newcastle and the North East have got poorer.
“In three wards in my constituency, more than half of children live in poverty.
“This is both unbelievable and unacceptable in one of the richest nations in the world, and shows the true cost of Tory austerity.”
There are 24 local authorities with a higher rate of poverty than Newcastle. Tower Hamlets in London has the worst figure, with 53.40% of children across the entire local authority area in poverty.
Manchester has the second highest level, followed by the London borough of Newham, with Birmingham in fourth place.
In Middlesbrough, 38.25% of children are in households in poverty.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “We’ve doubled free childcare – worth £5,000 per child each year – while our £2.5bn pupil premium programme is supporting two million disadvantaged schoolchildren across the country.”