New research calls for East Mids Child Poverty action this General Election

New research on regional levels of child poverty, carried out by Loughborough University for the End Child Poverty Coalition, provides new information on child poverty across the East Midlands. 

Figures show that 30% of all children in the region are living in relative poverty, after the cost of housing is considered. 

Of the 47 constituencies in this region that will be in place at this General Election, many with newly defined boundaries, 79% have a child poverty rate 25% or more. Showing that child poverty, and how politicians tackle this, is a key election issue for families across this region. 

According to a statement from the End Child Poverty Coalition, the Derby South constituency is ranked at #1 in the Top 10 of areas with the highest levels of child poverty in the East Midlands with 45.8%, and added that figures demonstrated that the overall child poverty figure for the region hides much higher child poverty figures for some areas. 

Rachel Walters, End Child Poverty Coalition Manager said: “Whoever wins the election needs to urgently get a grip on child poverty. Rising costs and stalling wages are making it impossible for families to make ends meet. Across the region parents are having to use food banks to feed their children and babies are being born into homes where parents can't afford to keep their houses warm in winter.

"Our social security system, like our NHS, should be there for us all, especially when we need it most. We need a social security system that’s fit for the 21st century. One that ensures all children can flourish, instead of one that pushes families into poverty, with its two-child limit to benefit payments. This policy must be scrapped immediately."

The Right Reverend Martyn Snow, Bishop of Leicester, said: "Year on year we see the number of children living in poverty rise, and we know the long-lasting impacts that growing up in poverty can have on children's health, development and education. I am proud of all the work our churches and schools do to support families, whether through running holiday clubs, helping with the costs of school trips, or running food banks. But we cannot meet the rising need alone. 

“Ending child poverty requires political will as well as practical engagement from faith groups and charities. We must do all we can to ensure that every child has a happy and healthy start to life and a hopeful future.”

According to the research, across the East Midlands 11% of all children live in a family whose benefit payments are reduced by the two-child limit . A policy which pushes families into poverty by reducing benefit payments by up to £3,455 per child (if born after April 2017). This figure is higher than the national average of 10%. 

As a result of these findings the End Child Poverty Coalition is calling for a strategy to tackle child poverty to be at the top of the priority list for all political parties in the General Election. 

Alongside this, all political parties must commit to scrapping the two-child limit to benefit payments immediately. Research shows that lifting the two-child limit to benefit payments is the most effective way to reduce child poverty. Doing so would lift 300,000 children out of poverty across the UK at a cost of £1.8 billion. 

Across the UK child poverty costs an estimated £39 billion a year , this is comprised in part due to the cost on public services to help address the damage done to children growing up in poverty.