National crisis of child poverty

THE metro mayor has slammed the scourge of child poverty after a new report revealed as many as almost one in three children in Halton are living below the poverty line.

Research published by the End Child Poverty coalition highlights how the issue is on the rise in deprived areas and points to severe real-terms cuts in benefits, the roll-out of Universal Credit and rising housing costs as being behind the increase. The report also reveals that in Halton, one in four children are living in poverty, before housing costs.

This rises to 31% – almost one in three youngsters across the borough – after housing costs are taken into account.

Responding to the report, Liverpool City Region metro mayor Steve Rotheram said: “It is devastating that one in three children in our city region are growing up in poverty, whilst some communities are so blighted that almost every other child is growing up below the poverty line.

“During a decade-long programme of cuts we have seen child poverty rise year-on-year. This is betraying a generation of young people and we cannot allow this level of want to become normalised.

“While we are doing good work locally to improve the life chances of those from disadvantaged backgrounds, it is clear we are now facing a national crisis when it comes to child poverty.”

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority is delivering several schemes to tackle poverty in the six areas it covers, which includes Halton, Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, St Helens, and Knowsley.

These include £400m already invested to create 9,000 jobs and 5,500 apprenticeships, as well as a new £500m Strategic Investment Fund launched last year, designed to transform the city region’s economy, creating high quality jobs and boosting living standards for people.

The £8m Households . Into Work programme is working with 800 long-term unemployed people across the city region to help remove the barriers they face in getting back into work.

Last November, the Combined Authority along with bus operators Arriva and Stagecoach provided 3,000 bus tickets for foodbanks to help those with the greatest transport needs.

In January, Mr Rotheram began developing a Fair Employment Charter for the Liverpool City Region to address issues such as rising in-work poverty and insecure employment.