Fall in child poverty numbers

HM Revenue and Customs has today (September 28, 2012) released the number of children assessed as living in poverty in August 2010, which showed a reduction in the number of children and young people living in poverty in the Liverpool City Region from 91,355 to 88,880.

This 3% reduction in the numbers of children and young people in poverty is mirrored nationally.

	Aug-09		Aug-10
	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage
Halton	7,990	27.20%	7,800	26.50%
Knowsley	11,850	32.30%	11,840	31.70%
Liverpool	32,460	34.40%	31,070	33.10%
Sefton	11,665	20.30%	11,480	20.20%
St Helens	9,775	25.20%	9,535	24.70%
Wirral	17,615	20.90%	17,155	24.40%
Liverpool City Region	91,355	26.80%	88,880	27.20%
England	2,429,305	21.30%	2,367,335	20.60%

Commenting on the figures, Frank Field MP, Chair of the Liverpool City Region Child Poverty and Life Chances Commission said “These figures are of limited use when trying to have a serious understanding of poverty and more importantly its causes.

Whilst the data shows a slight reduction in the official figures for child poverty in 2010, we know that many families in 2012 are struggling to make ends meet, many of them having to resort to food banks to abate their hunger. The fall in the figures has nothing to do with rising incomes, but falling national median income.

“Tackling child poverty has to be a priority for us, and in order to do this, we need a better understanding of the causes of poverty. I recently carried out a Poverty Review at the request of the Prime Minister, and in it I made a number of recommendations about how to prevent poor children from becoming poor adults.

Because the current measures make a mockery of our understanding of poverty and its root causes, one of my key recommendations was to construct a set of Life Chances Indicators, which would measure the drivers of poverty.

The Foundation Years Trust in Birkenhead has commissioned Cambridge University to construct these Indicators, which will ensure we concern ourselves with the causes of poverty, rather than its pure measurement”

Sheena Ramsey, Chief Executive of Knowsley Council, said “The best way out of poverty for families is to get into and progress in work. We are working with businesses to create jobs and with Jobcentre Plus, colleges and welfare to work providers to get people ready for those jobs.”