Section 3: Social inequalities

The End Child Poverty coalition with Loughborough University (Oct 2020) has published an analysis of new data from the government that tracks four years of child poverty across Britain before housing costs are considered (2014/15-2018/19). (End Child Poverty Coalition Loughborough University. 2020)  

The report highlights those parts of the country where children are most likely to have been swept into poverty since 2014. 

The North East of England has seen the starkest increase in the country with a 6.5 percentage points increase over the past four years alone, leaving families in the region ill equipped to cope. In Gateshead one in five children (21.4%) are living in poverty, before housing costs are considered. 

Child poverty in England is unequal with children in some communities six times more likely to be growing up in poverty than in less deprived areas. While child poverty is deteriorating across all areas of the country proportionately, those places starting off with a high rate see more additional children pulled into poverty.