North East children ‘most at risk’ from poverty
Jun 11 2008 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal
Hard times that never seem to get easier
THE region’s history of poverty is currently under review by a commission set up to investigate why the North East suffers despite record levels of investment.
The Government spends £8,177 per head each year to improve life in the North East but the region is no nearer to closing the North South divide which sees thousands of families earning less than their Southern counterparts.
Last September the leading think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) announced its Northern division would be teaming up with regeneration experts to carry out a £300,000 study into the how Government cash is spent.
The commission was tasked with finding out why the region frequently comes bottom of the list on subjects such as health and poverty.
Sue Stirling, Director of ippr north said she was confident the region was heading in the right direction.
She said: "At first glance the figures do not look good for the region’s children and their families, but the North East is making progress. Its stable level of child poverty contrasts with four other English regions whose rates of child poverty had risen over the last three years.
"More of the same in policy terms will not be good enough for the region’s children. We also need to build new coalitions across the region which is why the work of the regional child poverty strategy group is so critical for us to gain a greater understanding of the characteristics that put children at risk of living in poverty in the North East to tackle the problem more effectively."
Yesterday the Government defended the figures, saying that thousands of pensioners and children had been lifted out of poverty.
Employment and Welfare Reform Minister Stephen Timms acknowledged that the figures represented a slip.
He said: "We are committed to tackling poverty and providing opportunity for all.
"But we have heard that over the last year or two we have on some levels slipped back."
'Disgrace' of the pensioners on breadline
THE Government has been accused of "forcing pensioners into poverty" as the number of elderly people struggling to afford the cost of living rises.
While the number of elderly people classed as living in poverty in the North East has dropped overall in 11 years, in the last two years it has risen from 11% to 12%.
Last night Help the Aged called on the Government to do more to ensure pensioners get the benefits they deserve.
Mervyn Kohler, the charities special adviser, said: "The Government should be mortified by the latest rise in pensioner poverty – in a 12- month period, an additional 300,000 pensioners have been forced into poverty. On average that’s around 822 pensioners each day.
"When older people live on a fixed income it is virtually impossible for them to pull themselves out of poverty. Pensioners often have to cut back on essential household items, just to survive. This is a disgrace."
The charity Age Concern has called for an increase in the state pension in order to lift pensioners out of poverty.
Gordon Lishman, director-general of Age Concern, said: "It is a national disgrace that pensioner poverty levels have begun to rise.
"The Government is failing those that need their help the most and the progress they have made on pensioner poverty to date is in danger of unravelling. Older people have been hit particularly hard as living costs have gone through the roof – half of those affected by fuel poverty alone are pensioners."
