The latest report published by the Millenium Cohort Study (MCS), which tracks the long-term health, education and wellbeing of almost 14,000 children born in the UK between 2000 and 2002, found that the rate of child poverty was highest among children from Pakistani and Bangladeshi families, where 73 per cent of seven-year-olds were in families living on less than 60 per cent of the average household income.
Researchers from the Institute of Education, which is conducting the MCS, interviewed parents of the children taking part in the study and asked them to place themselves in one of 18 categories corresponding to their weekly family income.
The study found that over half of black children were living in low-income households, compared to 26 per cent of white and 25 per cent of Indian children.
Low household income was strongly linked to joblessness; among fathers, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis had the highest unemployment rate, at 15 per cent, compared to a UK average of six per cent, and unemployment was also high among black fathers at 11 per cent. Fathers from Indian families were least likely to be unemployed, at four per cent, followed by those from white families, at 5.5 per cent. Almost two-thirds of white and Indian mothers were employed compared with half of black mothers and just 17 per cent of Pakistani and Bangladeshi mothers.
The highest rate of families living in poverty by region was found in Wales and Northern Ireland, at 33 and 32 per cent respectively and lowest in Scotland, at 26 per cent. Within England, the highest rate of child poverty was in the north-east, at 40 per cent, followed by London, at 36 per cent.
The report raised concerns that the number of children living in poverty will rise due to Government cuts in the spending review, expected to lead to public sector job losses of around 500,000.
Heather Joshi, the study's director, said, 'While there are families with employed parents who are poor, if neither parent is in work, the chances of being in poverty are much higher. As the availability of jobs decreases, child poverty will become more prevalent. Families in parts of the country where they depend on above-average levels of housing benefit are going to be in a very precarious position.'
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