Study reveals 73,000 North East kids live in poverty

Jan 26 2010 by Kim Carmichael, The Journal

GOVERNMENT plans to end child poverty were in turmoil last night as it emerged thousands of North East youngsters are living in extreme hardship.

According to new statistics, 73,000 children in the region are now existing in severely poverty-stricken conditions, without enough food to eat or clothes to keep them warm.

The damning findings highlight the challenge facing ministers to live up to Tony Blair’s 1999 promise to end child poverty by 2020.

For the first time, the major study by Save the Children has revealed that severe child poverty actually increased in the period of prosperity before the credit crunch.

During the pre-recession boom in the UK’s economy, an additional 260,000 children throughout the country were plunged into poverty, taking the national total to 1.7 million. The study, which is based on the Government’s annual Family Resources Survey, revealed that 14% of North East children are classed as being in severe poverty – slightly higher than the national average of 13%.

The Government classes children as being in ‘severe’ poverty if they are in a household with an income below 50% of average income, after housing costs are factored in, and cannot afford at least three everyday goods or services.

Experts have said that the recession is likely to have increased severe poverty by a further 100,000 children but rises in tax credits and benefits are expected to have bought the numbers back down to pre-recession figures.

Campaigners have warned the number of children living in severe poverty could still rise even higher.

Fergus Drake, from Save the Children, said: “It’s shocking that at a time when the country was experiencing unprecedented levels of wealth, the number of children living in severe poverty – we’re talking about children going without a winter coat, a bed and other day-to-day essentials – actually increased. Measures introduced by the Government in the last two years have managed to prevent the numbers spiraling even higher but with unemployment expected to rise there is a danger that severe child poverty will increase even further.