Concern over high child poverty rates in Leicester

MORE than one in three children in Leicester are living in poverty, statistics from the Department for Work and Pensions have revealed, writes Tess Rushin.

The city was the 11th worst local authority area in the UK, with 39.5 per cent of under 16s meeting the criteria in 2023-24. This has increased from 38.7 per cent in the previous year.

Across the UK, the local authority ranked worst was Pendle, in Lancashire, which had a child poverty rate of 44.6 per cent It was followed by Bradford at 44.2 per cent and Oldham at 42.9 per cent.

Relative low income is defined as any family claiming child benefit and at least one other household benefit (such as universal credit, tax credits or housing benefit) at any point in the financial year, the Press Association (PA) reports.

A Leicester City Council spokesperson said the authority was determined to work closely with partners to make sure people’s lives in Leicester were not blighted by poverty.

They said: “There’s a huge amount of work going on locally to help tackle what is significant issue, not just in Leicester, but in all UK cities.

“This includes a range of support such as the promotion of free school meals, debt and budgeting advice, and help to ensure that people are receiving the benefits they are entitled to.”

Across the UK, the number of children living in poverty reached a record high in the year to March 2024, with 4.45 million children estimated to be in households in relative low income. This latest figure is the highest since comparable records for the UK began in 2002-2003, PA said.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has insisted the government’s plans to support people into work “will result in more people having fulfilling careers paying decent wages and, of course, that’s the best way to lift families out of poverty”.

However, the government’s own impact assessment, published last month, estimated welfare reforms could see 250,000 more people, including 50,000 children, fall into poverty by 2029-2030.