Published today by the End Child Poverty coalition, the map, shows the areas with the highest and lowest child poverty rates.
The areas with the highest child poverty rates are Bethnal Green and Bow (54 per cent), Ladywood in Birmingham, and Poplar and Limehouse in London (both 53 per cent), and Hodge Hill in Birmingham (51 per cent).
A breakdown of the figures show in the Coldhurst ward in Oldham, there are 62 per cent children living in poverty.
To view child poverty rates in your local area click here
Overall, child poverty is highest in large cities, particularly London, Birmingham and Manchester. Among the 20 parliamentary constituencies with the highest levels of child poverty, seven are located in London, three in Birmingham, and three in Manchester.
The figures, which are broken down by parliamentary constituency and by local authority area (see table), show that some of the most deprived areas of the UK have seen the biggest increases in child poverty. In some cases, the rate of child poverty has increased by 10 percentage points since December 2015.
At the other end of the scale, fewer than one in ten children live in poverty in Gordon (9 per cent) and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (9 per cent), both in Scotland.
Other areas with low child poverty rates, according to the map, include North East Hampshire (10 per cent), Sheffield, Hallam (11 per cent) and York (12 per cent).
The End Child Poverty coalition of charities, faith groups and unions says that since the introduction of the benefit freeze in 2015 it has warned that as prices rise, low-income families would find it increasingly hard to pay for the same basic essentials.
As such, it is calling on the Chancellor to end the freeze on children’s benefits – currently in place until the end of the decade – so that families no longer see living standards squeezed as prices rise.
The coalition is also concerned that the impact of poverty may be exacerbated by a ‘poverty premium’, which means that low-income families can face paying as much as £1,700 a year more than better-off families, to buy the same essential goods and services. A major contributor to this is the high cost of credit for low-income families, says the coalition, which wants to see the Government address this by providing better access to interest free credit.
Local authorities with highest child poverty rates
Sam Royston, chair of End Child Poverty and director of policy and research at the Children’s Society, said, ‘It is scandalous that a child born in some parts of the UK now has a greater chance of growing up in poverty, than being in a family above the breadline.
‘There can be little doubt that the Government’s policy of maintaining the benefits freeze despite rising prices is a major contributor to the emerging child poverty crisis.'
‘No family in modern Britain should be struggling to put food on the table, heat their homes and clothe their children. End Child Poverty is calling on the Chancellor to end the freeze on children's benefits, and to invest in interest free credit for low income families, to ensure that poverty doesn't result in spiralling debt.’
Commenting on the End Child Poverty figures, Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said, ‘These are shocking figures. It is nothing short of a disgrace that, in one of the wealthiest countries on earth, there are constituencies where more than half of children are growing up in poverty.
‘Sadly, however, these figures will not come as a surprise to many of our members who see the disastrous effects of poverty on children and families every day. This includes a rising number of children coming to school tired and hungry because their parents cannot afford to provide meals at home. Teachers and education professionals are also aware of the impact that poverty has on children’s ability to learn, something that is reflected in figures which show a persistent link between poverty and attainment. If you are hungry and concerned about the lack of money at home, this will have an effect on your experiences of school and education.
‘With news that some of the most deprived areas of the UK have seen the biggest increases in child poverty since 2015, the Government can no longer deny that there is a growing crisis of child poverty in the UK and must take measures to address this. We support calls for the Chancellor to immediately end the benefits freeze. For the Government to claim that it wants to boost opportunity and social mobility while at the same time pursuing policies such as this which are increasing child poverty is nothing short of hypocrisy.’
A Government spokesperson said, 'The best route out of poverty is through employment, and since 2010 an extra 3 million more people are now in work and 600,000 fewer children are living in workless households. But we recognise that budgets are tight, and that’s why we’re helping families keep more of what they earn.
'We’ve doubled free childcare – worth £5,000 per child each year – while our £2.5bn pupil premium programme is supporting 2 million disadvantaged schoolchildren across the country.'