Government figures out today confirm London families struggling in grip of poverty

Government figures out today confirm London families struggling in grip of poverty

22 March 2018

 

HBAI figures released today highlight that London’s levels of child poverty continue to be higher than any other region in England.

37% of children in London are living in poverty. That’s over 700,000 children. More children live in poverty in London than Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland put together.

Laura Payne, Coordinator of the London Child Poverty Alliance, said “These figures show an embedding of child poverty and disadvantage in London – it’s deeply concerning that no progress is being made.”

“Given that two thirds of children in poverty are in working households, we can see this is not just about employment rates. It’s about low pay, rising living costs, London’s housing crisis, and cuts to Government support for working and non-working households leaving families trapped in financial difficulties that anyone would struggle to get out of.”

Alongside supporting the national calls to end the benefit freeze, the London Child Poverty Alliance has put forward practical recommendations for Local Authorities to reduce the impact of poverty on low income families.

Ms Payne added: “We know that despite the bleak national picture of cuts to support for working and non-working low income families there are things that London’s Councils can do, including paying and promoting the London Living Wage, offering council tax reductions for low-income families, tackling poor conditions in private rented sector housing and committing not to use bailiffs to recover debt from their poorest residents. After the elections in May we want to see new administrations committed to doing better for London’s families”

END

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Notes:

 

The London Child Poverty Alliance is a group of London charities and organisations committed to reducing and ending child poverty in the capital, and is coordinated by both 4in10 and CPAG, and is chaired by Deborah Hargreaves.

 

Households Below Average Income statistics published 22^nd March 2018 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/692047/children-hbai-timeseries-1994-95-2016-17-tables.ods

 

You can find a full list of LCPA’s members here: https://familyfriendlylondon.wordpress.com/who-are-we/

 

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