BELOW the BREADLINE
The number of children living in poverty is on the rise
ALMOST a third of all children in the UK are living in poverty.
Alarming statistics from the Department for Work and Pensions reveal that around 4.1 million kids are living in homes where their family has an income below 60% of the UK average.
That is the same as around 10 in every 30 schoolchildren.
Experts have said that rising living costs, low wages and benefit cuts are facilitating the UK’S rise in child poverty.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has projected that the share of children in relative low income will increase sharply between 2015/16 and 2021/22, assuming no change in government policy.
And according to the Children’s Society charity, the number of children living in poverty is set to climb to five million by 2020.
Living in poverty means having insufficient money or other resources to meet basic needs month on month, year on year.
Children living in poverty are more likely to have poor physical health, a low sense of well-being and experience bullying at school.
Children in poverty are also more likely to feel like a failure. For example, some children go hungry and face punishment for missing uniform or equipment their family cannot afford.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the poorest 10% of boys and girls born in England between 2014-16 will spend 73.9% and 78.7% of their lives in good health.
The richest 10% of boys and girls, meanwhile, will spend 83.3% and 86.2% of their lives in good health.
The story is similar in Wales, where the poorest boys and girls will spend 72.6% and 78.4% of their lives in good health, compared with 82.5% and 85.7% of the richest boys and girls.
Alison Garnham, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: “In the UK we have high employment and high – and rising – child poverty.
“Two thirds of children living under the official poverty line today have at least one working parent so poverty is no longer largely about worklessness.
“It’s more about low wages, insecure work, reductions in funding for social security and rising costs.
“Big cuts to social security support for households in and out of work have hit family budgets hard. “Child poverty affects every aspect of a child’s development – it triggers lower school attainment, worse health and lower earnings as adults. “If we want to protect the life chances of our children we need a national strategy for tackling poverty and rapid, agreed actions. “Restoring the value of children’s benefits should be the first priority.”