North East children ‘most at risk’ from poverty

Jun 11 2008 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

CHILDREN across the North East are the most likely in the UK to live in poverty, despite years of Government efforts to improve their lives, official figures revealed yesterday.

Around 160,000 children in the region live in households below the Government’s minimum income standards, with nearly a third of all homes at risk.

And the household poverty figures released yesterday confirmed that for the region’s pensioners, life is getting harder.

The number of elderly people struggling to pay bills and afford food has gone up over the two years up to 2007, from 11% to 12%.

The pledge to end child poverty by 2020 was central to New Labour’s first term in office, a promise ministers insist they are on course to meet.

But last night Save the Children said the Government must act now or risk leaving many North households in poverty for years to come.

Phillipa Hunt, campaigns manager for the charity, said: “No Government should ever settle for the level of poverty seen in the North East, or the rest of the country.

“They can still meet their targets but there must be the political will to do so.

“We know the poorest families in the North East that are trying to get by on less than £15,000 a year are already having to decide between paying bills or feeding their children three meals a day, and that is just not acceptable.” Save the Children has called for the introduction of around £3bn in support and benefits for the poorest UK families.

Figures released yesterday show that for the two years up to 2007 the Government has estimated that up to 28% of the region’s children are likely to have been living in families which survive on less than 60% of the national average weekly wage.

Nationally the figures reveal the Government has missed its target for eradicating child poverty, instead seeing a sharp rise.

In total, 3.9m UK children were living in poverty in the year 2006-07, an increase of 100,000 on the previous year.

The Association of North East Councils, ANEC, is hoping to make tackling the damning statistics a bigger priority for the region in the years to come.

Association director Melanie Laws said: “Child poverty is one of the biggest challenges and priorities for this region.

“If the North East is to achieve its full economic potential, child poverty needs to be tackled so that all people in future can play their part in society, and contribute to the region’s economic, social and environmental well-being.”

Berwick MP Alan Beith last night accused the Government of failing the thousands of families struggling in the region.

He said: “More than one in four children in the North East are at risk of living in poverty and that figure rises to one in three when housing costs are taken into account. In 1999 Labour promised to eradicate child poverty within a generation but has so far failed to deliver that promise – all they have done is bring in complex, means-tested tax credits which have been a bureaucratic disaster and a nightmare for many families and the Conservatives have just talked about welfare to work schemes, which have been widely criticised by the child poverty lobby.”

Benchmarks of low income

POVERTY standards are based on average earnings and the likelihood of a family living on less than this.

The report calculated the benchmark for low income as less than £226 per week based on a couple with no children.

A couple with two children will be technically at risk of poverty if they survive on less than £346 a week.

A single parent with two children is considered to be living in poverty if they earn less than £271.

The average household income for a couple with no children is £377 a week.