'Almost half' of children growing up in parts of South Yorkshire are 'living in poverty'

Anti-poverty charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have released the findings today

Author: Chris Davis-SmithPublished 29th Jan 2025

There's a fear 'almost half' of children in parts of South Yorkshire & North Derbyshire are living in poverty.

New research suggests 43% of young people in the Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough constituency are stuck in deprivation - the 2nd highest figure across Yorkshire & the Humber.

Alison Wise from the S6 Foodbank in Hillsborough says it can have devastating consequences in the long-term:

"If kids are not well-fed, they can't learn.

"If children can't learn, then that limits their life potential, which's incredibly sad.

"That means the children lose out, their family lose out, as well as the community and the entire country too.

"A generation of kids growing up hungry, unable to learn or focus; what does that do the future of the country?

"It's on all of us to try and reverse these trends.

"This is happening in our city - this is happening to people we probably know and come in to contact with.

"Some families literally have the count their coppers before going to the shop to buy a pint of milk."

The research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation also found 40% of children in Rotherham are living in poverty.

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