THE cost of child poverty across Merseyside has hit almost £1bn, according to a new report by a campaigning charity.
The review, by the Child Poverty Action Group, revealed that the cost of child poverty to Liverpool City Region was revealed to be £968 million – and owing to tax and benefit changes, there is every indication that the totals will rise.
Unhealthy
The figure equates to £10,856 for every child in Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens, Sefton and Wirral.
It was arrived at by adding up the costs of housing benefits, tax credits and free school meals for children living below the breadline. An implied extra cost to the NHS has also been factored in as children in low-income families are less likely to be healthy.
Liverpool slum children of
the 1900s. A century
later could they soon
take on a look of familiarity?The report ‘Local Authorities and Child Poverty – balancing threats with opportunities’ estimates the cost to every local authority and constituency in the UK.
Independent forecasters, such as the influential Institute for Fiscal Studies, predict the number of children and young living in poverty will increase.
Birkenhead MP Frank Field, chairman of the region’s Child Poverty and Life Chances Commission, pointed out that some areas of the region have recently experienced a 120 percent leap in the number of families attending food banks.
He said: “It’s not enough to just support each child, we need to help raise family incomes, too.
"This dual focus must be maintained if we are to avoid the pernicious impacts of poverty.”
One third of Liverpool children live in poverty, the highest proportion in the UK, according to the most recent CPAG figures. In Knowsley the figure is 32 per cent, with high numbers in Halton (27 per cent), Wirral (25 per cent) and St Helens (25 per cent).
