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Hooper et al., 2007, Living with hardship 24/7, The Frank Buttle Trust.
Campaign News
Child poverty under the microscope - 30th of Sep, 2008
New figures show 174 constituencies in Britain have 50 per cent or more children living in or on the brink of poverty.
The figures have been released by the Campaign to End Child Poverty just days before the coalition is due to stage a rally called Keep The Promise.
It is the first time the number of children in struggling families has been calculated.
Birmingham Ladywood tops the list of the grim league table with 81 per cent - or 28,420 - of its children in struggling families.
And within Ladywood one ward, Aston, has 87 per cent of its youngsters struggling to get by.
But this is still not the most concentrated area of child poverty. An estimated 98 per cent of children living in two zones in Glasgow Baillieston – Central Easterhouse and North Barlarnark and Easterhouse South – are either in poverty or in working families that are struggling to get by.
Campaign chairman Martin Narey said: “Pockets of our country are in turmoil.
“These figures show us that there are millions more children than originally thought being failed by the system.”
And in another first the Campaign to End Child Poverty has opened up these Government figures to show how many children in each area are in families with wage earners who only just afford to make ends meet.
Bradford West has more children being looked after in working families who have to rely on working tax credit at 44 per cent - or 14,630 - than in families relying on out of work benefits.
The figures are made up from child tax credit and those working tax credit data and have been calculated by the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion.
Campaign director Hilary Fisher said: “It is because of this reality that we are pushing the Government harder than ever to do more to end child poverty in our country – one that is ironically the fifth richest country in the world.
“We want everyone who feels that this injustice which deprives the most helpless members of our society should be changed to join us in demanding Gordon Brown does something about it, before it is too late.”
The Campaign to End Child Poverty will stage a rally in Trafalgar Square, supported by singer Sophie Ellis Bextor, on Saturday, October 4, called Keep The Promise. It will call on Gordon Brown to keep the promise the Labour Government made to halve child poverty by 2010.
If the Government does not invest £3bn in the next budget, it will fail.
Click here to view Poverty Maps of your area.
See more coverage of the poverty figures on the bbc, view here
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