Mapping child poverty

[Nostalgia]

Millions of children in the UK are living in or on the brink of poverty, according to a report from the Campaign to End Child Poverty.

The umbrella organisation, which includes Barnardo’s, UNICEF, Save The Children and the TUC, has released data for every parliamentary constituency in the UK.

It found that in Birmingham's Ladywood constituency, 81% of children were living in low income families - the highest proportion in the UK.

Low income means families where no-one is working more than 16 hours a week or where the family is receiving the full amount of Working Tax Credit.

The campaigners say this is not a direct measure of exactly how many children are in poverty, but is a good indicator of which areas have the highest child poverty levels.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7642689.stm

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

http://www.rinf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3113

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

5.5m of Britain's young 'live in poverty'

(Tuesday 30 September 2008)

by LOUISE NOUSRATPOUR




CHILD poverty campaigners called for action on Tuesday after revealing that more than 5.5 million children in Britain are living in or on the brink of poverty.

Research by the Campaign to End Child Poverty found that, in 174 of the 646 parliamentary constituencies across Britain, more than half the children live in poverty or are in families that are struggling to get by on low incomes.
Pockets of the country are in "turmoil" and millions more children than previously thought are being left behind, the umbrella campaign warned.
Some 22 per cent of children or 2,895,000 are in families claiming the tax credit while another 22 per cent or 2,664,000 live in workless families.
Birmingham and Glasgow have the highest levels of child poverty, the report revealed.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged last week to enshrine in law the government's ambitious target to end child poverty by 2020.
But campaigners have warned that the government is in danger of missing its first target of halving child poverty by 2010.
Campaign chairman Martin Narey said that Mr Brown must pledge to invest an extra £3 billion in the 2009 budget if he wants to meet the 2010 target.
"These figures show us that there are millions more children than originally thought being failed by the system," he warned.
Left MP Jeremy Corbyn condemned the "disgraceful" findings.
He called for "a big increase in child benefits, a change in the housing benefit system to give greater support to people in work and ensure that all children have free access to nursery places from the age of two."
Scottish National Party MP for Glasgow East John Mason said that the findings were "shocking but sadly familiar."
He added: "It is absolutely inexcusable that any child should live in poverty, but to hear that 98 per cent of children in some parts of my constituency should have their life chances compromised from birth is tragic."
Mr Mason praised the Scottish government's £1.8 billion pledge to address inequalities in Scotland and urged Westminster to follow lead.
The campaign will stage a rally in Trafalgar Square as part of its Keep The Promise campaign on Saturday.

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