The number of children struggling has surged by 100 000 in just one year, new statistics published on Thursday show. Relative child poverty is measured as children living in homes where the income is 60 percent of the median household income in the UK, adjusted for family size after housing costs.
Some 4.1 million children are now living in relative poverty compared to four million the previous year. That means 30 per cent of British children, or one in three, are affected. The staggering figures have prompted urgent calls to review cuts to the state’s child welfare programme.
More worrying is that compared to the overall population, children remained the most likely to be in relative poverty, compared with the 21 percent of working age adults and 16 percent of pensioners.
Children have been the hardest hit by Prime Minister Theresa May’s benefit cuts and tax credits. Some one and a half million more under-eighteens are forecasted to live in households below the relative poverty line by 2022.
Other official statistics released on the same day also show the number of households in temporary accommodation has surged 64 percent since 2010, of which more than 2000 had children. Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG)’s chief executive, Alison Garnham, accused the Government of being “in denial on child poverty”. She said: “Figures should sound a warning bell that if we fail to invest in children we will damage the life chances of a generation and the long-term prosperity of the country.”
Matthew Reed, Chief executive of The Children’s Society, said the “shocking” statistics must “spur the Government into decisive action” to help the millions of children now living in poverty across the country.
He added: “Growing up in poverty can affect every aspect of a child’s life: their home, health, education, family relationships and even friendships.
Housing figures also published on Thursday suggest the rise in poverty rates has contributed to a rise in homelessness, with the latest statistics showing some 790 000 families living in temporary housing.