High Child Poverty In Middlesbrough

20 February 2013, 06:37 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A report's found more than a third of children are living in poverty in some areas of the North East - with Middlesbrough the worst affected.

The Campaign to End Child Poverty has published figures.

Nationally, one in five British children live below the poverty line.

The figures found an average of 20.2% of British children are classified as below the poverty line, before housing costs.

The situation has broadly improved since 2011, except in some areas of the North East.

In Newcastle, 38% of children were poor in 2012, compared with 29% in 2011, while in Middlesbrough the figure rose to 40% from 38% in the previous year.

Commenting on the figures, Enver Solomon, Chair of the End Child Poverty campaign said: 

"The child poverty map reveals the depth and breadth of child poverty across the country showing the gross levels of inequality that children face in every region. Far too many children whose parents are struggling to making a living are having to go hungry and miss out on the essentials of a decent childhood that all young people should be entitled to.

Local authorities are having to deal with reduced budgets but they have critical decisions to make. We're calling on authorities to prioritise low income families in the decisions they make about local welfare spending, including spending on the new council tax benefit, and on protecting families hit by the bedroom tax.

This week we have written to local authority leaders in the local authorities with the most child poverty, asking them what they will do to tackle child poverty in their local area."

The top 20 local authorities for child poverty in the UK are: 

1. Tower Hamlets (London) (42% of children in poverty)
2. Manchester (38%)
3. Middlesbrough (37%)
4. Derry (35%)
5. Belfast (34%)
6. Islington (34%)
7. Glasgow City (33%)
8. Liverpool (33%)
9. Newcastle upon Tyne (33%)
10. Hartlepool (33%)
11. Nottingham (32%)
12. Knowsley (32%)
13. Newham (32%)
14. Strabane (32%)
15. Barking and Dagenham (31%)
16. South Tyneside (31%)
17. Hastings (31%)
18. Birmingham (31%)
19. Westminster (30%)
20. Hackney (30%)