London has the highest levels of child poverty in England, with more than half of children living below the breadline in two boroughs, according to new data.
Approximately 38% of children in London are in relative poverty, compared with 32% in Northwest England and the West Midlands, and 30% in the Northeast.
Across the country, child poverty rates have flatlined, with an estimated 4.03 million children (27%) in relative poverty in the year 2024/25, compared with an estimated 4.04 million the previous year.
Households where income is less than 60% of the median national average, after housing costs, are considered to be living in poverty.
The figures, published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), reveal that the number of people living in poverty in the UK has risen by almost half a million in the past year.
There were an estimated 13.40 million individuals below the poverty line in the year 2024/25, up from an estimated 12.93 million people in 2023/24.
Experts said London’s poverty levels are driven by the housing crisis, with higher rents impacting families' ability to afford basic essentials such as a warm home or fresh fruit.
At council level, the three highest child poverty rates in England were each found in inner-city boroughs in east London.
The rate is 50.3% in Tower Hamlets, 50.1% in Hackney, and 44.9% in Newham.
Outside of London, the highest rates are in Birmingham (44.9%), Pendle in Lancashire (42.5%) and Manchester (42.3%).
The overall UK child poverty rate stands at 27%, with Wales recording 32%, England 29%, Scotland 21% and Northern Ireland 19%.
2.8 million children across the country are classed as living in “deep poverty”, in households with incomes of less than 40% of the poverty threshold.
Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, said that the government was “beginning to make a difference”, but he said there was more to do to turn the poverty tide.
The government’s Child Poverty Strategy, published in December last year, aims to take 550,000 children out of poverty by 2029, the final year of this parliament.
Labour have abolished the two-child benefit limit, a policy that had restricted child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households, with the legislation coming into effect next month.
The impact of the rule change will not be evident until the figures for 2026/27, which are likely to be published in spring 2028.
The government also hopes that expanding free school meals to all children in households in receipt of universal credit, coupled with increases in the national living wage, will drive down poverty.
Dame Diana Johnson, a minister at the DWP, said: “The removal of the two-child limit from April will alone lift 450,000 children out of poverty in the last year of this Parliament.
“Alongside this, we are putting in place robust arrangements to ensure that we can continue to build on our success as part of a long-term, 10-year strategy for lasting change.”
The Child Poverty Action Group said: “Growing up in poverty damages children’s everyday lives and future chances. Removal of the two-child limit next month is an important first step in making life better for kids.
“With four million children living in poverty, government will have to invest in sustained support for children and families to meet its ambition to give every child the best start.”
Amnesty International UK said the figures, showing “that more than 13 million people – including four million children – in one of the richest countries in the world have to choose between heating their homes and putting food on the table is unacceptable”.
Food bank network Trussell said the data “has revealed a heartbreaking injustice: appallingly high numbers of people across the UK are trapped in the grip of severe hardship” while anti-poverty organisation the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said: “The bottom line is that far too many families are still in poverty.”
