Child poverty in the UK
The End Child Poverty coalition has issued a new report revealing that there are now constituencies within the UK where more than fifty percent of children are growing up in poverty.
Some of the most deprived areas in the UK have seen the biggest increases in child poverty since the coalition's last local child poverty figures released, in December 2015. With increases of up to 10 percent in some areas, the figures demonstrate the growing crisis of child poverty in the UK.
The estimates of local child poverty are broken down by parliamentary constituency, local authority and ward. Large cities such as London, Birmingham and Manchester have the highest rates of child poverty throughout the UK; 13 out of 20 parliamentary constituencies with the highest level of child poverty are located in these areas.
In Scotland, Glasgow has been ranked amongst the poorest constituencies, with 45 percent of children in the city centre living in poverty. Glasgow Central appears 12th on the list of 20 constituencies, with West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine having the fewest children living in poverty at 9.2 percent.
In February 2017, the Scottish Government introduced a Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill in response to increasing rates of child poverty, to establish a framework for reducing child poverty.
The report also includes an interactive map, allowing you to scrutinise child poverty in your local area.