‘As shameful as it is heartbreaking’
MPS REACT AS NORTH EAST HAS HIGHEST CHILD POVERTY RATE IN THE COUNTRY
TEESSIDE MPs have reacted after it was revealed the North East has the highest rate of relative child poverty in the country.
Every local authority area reported significant increases in child poverty since 2014/15, with the biggest Teesside increase in Redcar and Cleveland.
In 2020/21, Middlesbrough had a rate of 41.2%, Redcar and Cleveland’s was 39.3%, Hartlepool’s was 39% and Stockton’s was 37.3%.
Newcastle had the highest rate in the region at 42.2%.
When considering parliamentary constituencies, Middlesbrough had the highest percentage of children living in poverty at 50.7%.
Labour Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald said: “Child poverty in the North East is now the highest in the UK and here in Middlesbrough more than two in every five children go hungry. This is as shameful as it is heartbreaking.
“These are not statistics – they are children who do not have enough to eat in this rich country of ours.
“It lays bare the criminal failure of the Conservatives in Government since 2010. No amount of unrelenting optimism, massaging figures, ‘levelling up’ or ‘building back better’ can mask the stark daily reality of poverty for so many of our children in Middlesbrough. This Tory Government has failed.”
During a time when child poverty fell slightly across the country, it rose in the North East from 26% to 38%, overtaking London – the steepest increase in the UK.
The North East Child Poverty Commission, alongside other End Child Poverty coalition members, has called on the government to abolish the two-child limit and reduce deductions for those on Universal Credit, improve access to free and affordable childcare, and extend free school meals to all children in families receiving Universal Credit.
Labour Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham said: “These are truly appalling figures representing thousands of children living in poverty.
“The Conservatives talk a good talk about ‘levelling up’ but the fact is that their actions in government – from cutting Sure Starts Centres, implementing a cruel and unfair ‘twochild’ limit to Universal Credit, and presiding over more than a decade of austerity – are to blame for this rise.
“It is clear we need to see a real plan of action from this Government and whoever will replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, yet not one single candidate is even talking about how they would tackle child poverty – with some even discussing how they would make it worse through ill-thought-out reforms to the welfare bill. Our children deserve better.”
Conservative Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Simon Clarke said positive action was being taken and in the last decade 100,000 children have been lifted out of absolute poverty – both before and after housing costs – and levels of combined material deprivation and low income for children are at their joint lowest level.
The End Child Poverty Coalition measures children living in relative poverty, this is when they are living in a household with income below 60% of the median household income in that year. However, the government uses absolute poverty as its measure, which applies if children live in a household with income below 60% of the 2010/11 median, while accounting for inflation.
Mr Clarke added: “While of course the Government should do what it can to support families in the short term, we cannot defeat poverty by merely treating its symptoms.
“Teessiders need more than a sticking plaster – we’ve had that for decades, it doesn’t work. What we need is a cure.
“That’s precisely why we have such huge investment laser-targeted directly at Teesside. Ultimately it is the growth, jobs and prosperity that are now flooding into Teesside, thanks to levelling up, that will give families and individuals the powerful opportunities that can consign poverty to the past.
“In the meantime, we’re doing everything a Government can to help people in the immediate term.”
Mr Clarke, who is also Chief Secretary to the Treasury, added that he was busy, alongside Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, building Teesside into an economic powerhouse that will create opportunities for those in the region.
Middlesbrough Labour group leader Cllr Matt Storey criticised Independent Mayor Andy Preston in light of the figures.
Cllr Storey said: “We need a Labour council and a Labour mayor that are 100% focused on improving the life chances of every child and family in Middlesbrough. Andy Preston is more interested in vanity projects and photo opportunities and these child poverty figures show children in our town can’t afford that.”
Middlesbrough Council adopted a welfare strategy earlier this month to provide a single point of contact for vulnerable people to access the different strands of support the local authority provides.
Mr Preston said the statistics were unacceptable and he was focused on turning around decades of decline.
He added: “I’m sure the majority of people will ignore the blamefocused spin put out by the local Labour Party, who presided over the town for many decades before I became mayor.
“What will help this situation isn’t moaning or blaming – it needs action. Our poorest kids need action to create better jobs, action to make streets safer, and action to raise expectations.
“We are now winning the investment to create life-changing career opportunities for young people and for the first time in decades we’re fighting back against criminals, druggies and trouble makers.”