Hackney fourth worst in UK for child poverty

Child poverty: Hackney Council says it is working to tackle the issue. Photograph: Hackney Citizen

With over a third of children living below the poverty line, Hackney is the fourth worst local authority in the UK for child poverty, according to a new ‘child poverty map’ published this month.

Hackney South and Shoreditch was also named the eighth worst parliamentary constituency for child poverty in the UK.

But the latest figures from campaign group End Child Poverty show that the trend is moving in the right direction – 39% of children in Hackney were living in poverty in 2011, compared to 43.5% in 2008 and 48.6% in 2007.  The national average is just one in five.

Tower Hamlets topped the list of UK local authority areas with the most deprived children, with Islington second and Westminster and Camden also in the top ten.

Responding to the findings, a Hackney Council spokesperson said: “We are working in partnership with other organisations in the borough, including education, health and the community and voluntary sectors, to tackle the issue.

“We have undertaken a review of our approach to addressing child poverty and the recommendations from the review form the basis of our draft child poverty and family wellbeing action plan.”

Alison Garnham, Executive Director of the Campaign to End Child Poverty, said: “Child poverty costs us billions picking up the pieces of damaged lives and unrealised potential, so it’s a false economy if we don’t prioritise looking after children today.”

The End Child Poverty report calculated the number children living in poverty from tax credit data and used the government’s official indicator for child poverty, which classifies children in households with below 60% median income before housing costs as living in poverty.

For more information go to End Child Poverty – Hackney.