Thousands of children living in poverty in King's Lynn & West Norfolk
Thousands of children are living in poverty in King's Lynn and West Norfolk, new analysis reveals.
The End Child Poverty coalition, which commissioned the report showing almost a third of children across the UK live below the breadline, said families were already on a "cliff edge" before the coronavirus pandemic.
The research combined recent figures from the Department for Work and Pensions with local housing costs to produce new estimates for low-income families - those earning less than 60% of the median income.
The analysis shows 7,814 children living in low-income families in King's Lynn and West Norfolk in 2018-19.
This means 29.5% of all those aged 16 and under are living in poverty, though this was a decrease on 2014-15, when it was 29.7%.
The report is based on DWP data from March, and estimates of the effect of housing costs on poverty rates by Loughborough University's Centre for Research in Social Policy.
The figures show a rise in child poverty across the East of England since 2014-15, with last year's highest rate in Luton (39.8%).
Across the whole of the region, the average rate was 27%.
In King's Lynn and West Norfolk, the number of children in low-income families rose from 7,529 in 2014-15, to 7,814 last year.
The coalition is calling on the Government to recognise the scale of the problem and its impact on children’s lives.
Thomas Lawson, chief executive at Turn2us, said:
"In 2001, our Government set a target to end child poverty by 2020, yet here we are reporting once again that it is rising.
"Low wages, soaring rents and the stubbornly high cost of living is pulling families into poverty and drying up the opportunities of so many young people across the country - particularly in the East of England.
"If the Government truly believes in compassion and justice, ministers must first admit the problem then fully commit to solving it. We are urging the Prime Minister to listen to our recommendations and include them in a comprehensive strategy to end child poverty once and for all."
Across the UK, the proportion of children in low-income families rose from 28% to 30% between 2014-15 and 2018-19.
Anna Feuchtwang, chair of ECP, said:
"The children affected are on a cliff edge, and the pandemic will only sweep them further into danger.
"An ambitious plan to put this shameful situation right would be transformational for millions of children."
ECP are calling on the UK Government to uprate housing assistance in line with inflation, abandon the "unconscionable" planned cuts to Universal Credit, end the benefit cap and the two-child limit on benefits, and increase child benefit.
A DWP spokesman said there are 100,000 fewer children in absolute poverty than in 2009-10, which is a measure against median income in 2011 rather than the current level.
He added: