Childhood poverty rates are on the rise and the latest data shows that one in three children in the UK are living in poverty, but one London borough has the highest rate of the whole country.
A report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRW), an independent social change organisation working to solve UK poverty, released this week, showed damning statistics for London poverty rates.
London places as the highest of all parts of the UK with an overall poverty rate of 27 per cent, meaning more than one in four people in the capital are living in poverty.
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Child Poverty rates in the UK have risen this year
The report states that the high cost of housing in the capital city is a significant driver of poverty and the report found that over half of Londoners live in rented accommodation.
Another driver in the rise in poverty rates, according to the report, was that several London boroughs have been disproportionately affected by high numbers of people being furloughed or claiming unemployment benefits during the pandemic.
The London boroughs most affected by these disproportionate levels were Barking and Dagenham, Brent and Ealing.
But Tower Hamlets recorded a child poverty rate of 56 per cent meaning that over half of all children in the borough are living below the poverty line.
The report stated: “The economic impacts during the pandemic were very uneven, with people on the lowest incomes most likely to find their earnings reduced if they were working and to get into debt.”
In fact, prior to London’s housing costs being deducted from people’s incomes, the poverty rate in London is 16 per cent meaning that the high housing costs lead to a further 11 per cent of Londoners being placed into poverty.
The report also found that a higher percentage of households headed by someone of Black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds were in poverty (38 per cent) compared to their white counterparts (19 per cent).
Child Poverty rates in the UK have risen this year too, according to the report, but the London borough of Tower Hamlets had the highest rate of child poverty in the whole country.
The report states that the high cost of housing in the captial city is a significant driver of poverty
Following the Central London borough in child poverty rates were Newham (50 per cent) and Barking and Dagenham (48 per cent) with some of the country’s highest rates.
On the other end of the poverty line, London boroughs Kensington and Chelsea and Richmond Upon Thames recorded some of the lowest rates of child poverty in the UK, and the lowest in London, with 24 per cent and 17per cent respectively.
The lowest rate of child poverty in the whole of the UK was 12per cent in Elmbridge in South East England meaning that Tower Hamlets has more than four times as many children in poverty.
Katie Schmuecker, Deputy Director of Policy & Partnerships at JRF said: “No childhood should be defined by a daily struggle to afford the basics. But the reality is that many children growing up today won’t have known anything else.
“The fact that more children are in poverty and sinking deeper into poverty should shame us all.
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“Rising energy prices will affect us all, but our analysis shows they have the potential to devastate the budgets of families on the lowest incomes.
“The Government cannot stand by and allow the rising cost of living to knock people off their feet. The alarm is sounding loud and clear and the case for targeted support to help people on the lowest incomes could not be clearer.
“But this must go hand in hand with urgent action to strengthen our social security system, which was woefully inadequate even before living costs began to rise.
“Our basic rate of benefits is at its lowest real rate for 30 years and this is causing avoidable hardship. The Government must do the right thing and strengthen this vital public service.”
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