More than 170,000 children are living below the breadline in the North East, official figures show.
A total of 171,641 children were living in poverty in March 2021 - even before the cost of housing was taken into account.
This was an increase from 155,787 in March 2020 despite financial support from the Government during the start of the pandemic. The North East bucks the national trend, which saw the number of children living in poverty dip last year thanks to that support.
Prior to the pandemic, the number of children in the North East living in poverty had also been rising year on year, having increased from 102,070 kids in March 2015. It means more than one in four children in the North East was living in poverty last year (29%).
Across our region, Elswick in Newcastle had the highest levels with 2,942 children in poverty (61%) and this was closely followed by Barnes Park in Sunderland with 655 children in poverty (49%). The North Tyneside neighbourhood of Chirton also had high levels with 1,025 children in poverty (46%) along with central Darlington which has 668 children in poverty (46%).
The proportions are estimates based on DWP figures on the number of children living in families with a household income of less than 60% of the UK average as of March 2021, and population estimates from the Office for National Statistics as of mid-2020. As the Government only publishes local data on child poverty before housing costs, in some cases these figures are likely an underestimate of the number of kids living in poverty - particularly in areas with high rents.
Meanwhile, the figures also suggest that work isn’t a reliable route out of poverty - 122,102 of the children living below the breadline in the North East last year had at least one working parent. That's 71% of the total number - up from 56% in March 2015, and the highest proportion on record.
Imran Hussain, director of policy and campaigns at Action for Children, said: "These figures show the Chancellor’s actions to boost incomes at the start of the pandemic lifted hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty, but the Treasury’s relative inaction to help families on low incomes in today’s cost of living crisis is likely to see any progress lost and child poverty climb again.
"As prices continue to rise, more low-income parents we support who were just about managing could go under, with no tips, tricks or hacks left to stretch their income over the month. Our new research shows nearly half (47%) of children we polled from low-income backgrounds worry about their family’s finances as struggling parents are left to decide whether to put food on the table or heat their homes.
"As well as the current cost of living crisis, many families with children are still reeling from October’s £20-a-week cut to Universal Credit. Unless the Government chooses to shield them now by protecting benefits from rising inflation, it will fail on its manifesto pledge to cut child poverty and millions of families will continue to face years of miserable hardship."
Across the UK, 2.8 million children were living in poverty before housing costs as of March 2021 - down from 3.2 million the year before. That still worked out as 19% of all children in the country, down from 23%. After housing costs, that figure rose to 3.9 million (down from 4.3 million), which is 27% of all children (down from 31%).
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A Government spokesperson said: "The latest figures show there were fewer children in poverty, and as work is the best route out of poverty, it’s right that we focus on filling the record number of vacancies. We continue to provide extensive support to help families with the cost of living, backed up by over £22 billion of targeted investment to help low-income households.
"This includes putting an average of £1,000 more per year into the pockets of working families via changes to Universal Credit, cutting fuel duty, and helping households with their energy bills through our £9.1 billion Energy Bills Rebate.
"We have also boosted the minimum wage by more than £1,000 a year for full-time workers and are raising National Insurance thresholds so people across the UK will keep more of what they earn before they start paying tax, while our £1 billion Household Support Fund is helping the most vulnerable with essential costs."
