Calls for Government to turn pledges into real action for North East children
New research is out today showing the latest child poverty rates
Campaigners and local charities are calling on the Government to turn pledges into real action for children in the North East and Teesside.
It follows the findings of new research published today (Monday 2nd June).
Last summer, the Government established a Ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce – committing to deliver ‘an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start at life’. Campaigners say publication of this much-needed national plan was originally promised for spring 2025, but recent reports indicate this has now been pushed back until later this year.
Today’s new analysis – carried out for the End Child Poverty coalition by Loughborough University – highlights how high rates of child poverty increasingly impact almost all parts of the North East. It finds that:
- Two thirds of the region’s constituencies have a child poverty rate at or higher than the UK average of 31%. This compares with 42% of all constituencies across the UK.
Pointing to the significant inequalities that exist within our region, this research finds the rate is much higher in the two constituencies estimated to have the highest child poverty levels in the North East, with:
- More than half (52%) of all children in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East growing up in poverty, followed by 43% of all children in Newcastle Central and West.
And today’s report again illustrates how child poverty rates in constituencies across the country – including in the North East – are ‘directly and strongly correlated’ with the percentage of children in the area living in families affected by the two-child limit policy in Universal Credit.
Since its introduction in April 2017, the two-child limit has meant that almost all families having a third or subsequent child are no longer entitled to receive support for those children through Universal Credit. Around 60% of families hit by the two-child limit across the country are in work.
Previous analysis by the End Child Poverty coalition and the North East Child Poverty Commission has found that, in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, more than one in five children (22%) are living in a family impacted by the two-child limit. In the Stockton West constituency – which today’s report finds has the lowest child poverty rate in the North East – just over five per cent of children growing up in the area are affected by the policy.
In a recent submission to the Government’s taskforce, the North East Child Poverty Commission urged Ministers to prioritise scrapping the two-child limit in the new national child poverty strategy.
It is calculated that doing so – in full – would be the most effective way to tackle child poverty, lifting 350,000 children out of poverty overnight and meaning a further 700,000 children living in less deep poverty across the country.
However, failing to do so will see a projected 4.8 million children living in poverty across the UK by the end of this Parliament (2029/30), up from the already record high of 4.3 million children in 2023/24.5
Four End Child Poverty coalition members based in the North East have responded to today’s findings.
Chair of the North East Child Poverty Commission, Beth Farhat, said: "Within weeks of coming into office, the Government made an important commitment to deliver an ambitious child poverty strategy. This report provides yet more proof why it’s now beyond time to quickly turn that welcome pledge into real action. Babies, children and young people across our region simply cannot wait much longer for this to happen.
"That plan must include scrapping the two-child limit as an urgent priority. All the evidence shows that a child poverty strategy that fails to do this just isn’t credible – and will struggle to make a dent in the unacceptably high child poverty rates we now have across almost every part of our region."
Leigh Elliott, Chief Executive of the largest regional children’s charity, Children North East, added: "Every child in every part of the North East should be able to have the best start in life, but this research shows how far we currently are from that ambition. We see the terrible, limiting impact of this every single day on the children and families we work with across the region, including those punished by the two-child limit.
"Yet we know there is nothing inevitable about child poverty in the North East. With the right policies, investment and leadership from the top, we can change this. The Government must quickly set out how it plans to do this, before another generation of children across our region have their entire childhoods blighted by poverty."
Manager of Thrive Teesside, Tracey Herrington, said: "Year on year, we bear witness to the rising numbers of children being pulled into poverty through no fault of their own and consequently subjected to the lifelong impact of this. Unable to realise their full potential, participate in activities that enable them to enjoy life, grow and flourish and increasingly becoming worried about what the future holds for them. This is no longer about failed policies, but policies – like the two-child limit – that are actively causing damage, hardship, and even destitution.
"Every child has the right to realise their potential, because every child matters. By working together and collectively addressing the issues that continue to keep our young people trapped in a life of poverty, positive change can happen. This is all of our responsibility – but the Government has the power to make the biggest difference, and it must seize the opportunity of the new strategy to do that."
Julie Marriott, Chief Executive of North Tyneside-based charity Family Gateway, explained: "These statistics are a sad confirmation of what we see every day: that increasing numbers of children and their families are feeling the effects of poverty across our region. These unacceptable rates of child poverty in the North East are ensuring that too many of our children are starting life on the back foot, preventing them from reaching the heights we all know they are capable of. The two-child limit plays a huge part in perpetuating this and not only keeps children in poverty, but pushes more into it.
"Poverty impacts on every system around us, and allowing this to grow makes no long term economic sense. The impact of poverty is felt by all of us, whether we live with it or not, as its effects place unimaginable strain on the infrastructure we all rely on. If we do not tackle this issue now, with speed and ambition, any policy, be that in health, education or criminal justice will be swimming against the tide.
"We acknowledge the step forward of a dedicated Child Poverty Taskforce and the upcoming Government strategy. With a well thought out and deliverable plan, we can work together to unlock the potential that poverty is keeping locked up in our region and within our young people."
Meanwhile, another report by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) has found children from disadvantaged backgrounds are missing lessons because they cannot afford uniforms, food, trips and transport.
Its survey found 16% of all pupils said they have missed secondary school at least once because they did not have something they needed to attend.
This figure increased among children who are eligible for free school meals, with more than one in four (26%) saying this had been the case.
The charity is calling on the Government to expand free school meals to more families in England, as well as scrap the two-child benefit limit.
Kate Anstey, head of education at CPAG, said: "Children in poverty aren't getting the real deal at school because they don't have money to participate - or even get to the school gates.
"From not being able to afford meals or uniform to poor mental health, lack of money at home means young people are missing school - effectively priced out of the system.
"Government must do more to support living standards for families so kids aren't locked out of learning - including scrapping the two-child limit and expanding eligibility for free school meals."
A Government spokesperson said: "We are determined to reduce child poverty through wide-ranging action as part of our Child Poverty Taskforce, breaking the unfair link between background and opportunity.
"This Government has inherited a system with baked-in inequalities, which we're tackling head-on through our Plan for Change by rolling out free breakfast clubs in every primary, providing mental health support in every school, and investing over £3 billion in Pupil Premium to support those children who need it most.
"Through our Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are also changing the law to limit the number of branded items schools can require, which alongside free breakfast clubs could put £500 a year back into working parents' pockets."