Child poverty
Key points
- London has the highest proportion of children in low-income households – the highest 'child poverty rate' – of any region in England.
- The proportion of children in low-income households in London is unchanged since the late 1990s at around 40%.
- While the proportion of children in Inner London in low-income households has come down in recent years, the opposite has happened in Outer London.
The proportion of children living in low-income households, over time
What does this graph show?
Around two fifths of children in London live in low-income households, compared to a national average of one third. This means that, while about one in seven children in England live in London, one in five children in low income in England live in London.
The lack of progress in reducing the proportion of children in low-income households in London is not unique. Neighbouring regions in the East and South East still have the same proportions of children in low-income households as they did a decade ago. No region has met the interim government target of reducing child poverty by 25%.
The proportion of children in Inner London in low-income households is by far the highest in the country – about a half of children live in low income households.
However, the proportion of children in Inner London in low-income households has come down by around five percentage points in recent years. In Outer London, this proportion has risen.
Outer London's increasing proportion of children living in low-income households is quite unique. While there has been no decrease in the proportion of children in low-income households in the East or West Midlands or the South East, Outer London is the only place to have seen an increase.
Policy Context
In 1999, the Government announced its aim to eradicate child poverty by 2020 and to halve it by 2010.
The London Child Poverty Commission was established by the Mayor in 2004 to find ways of reducing the very high rate of poverty among children living in London.
Published in 2006, its Capital Gains report recommended additional resources for JobCentre Plus in London, high quality careers and training advice for parents, and the creation of a ministerial post to lead the campaign against child poverty in London.
A ministerial working group was established in April 2008 to look specifically at child poverty in London. Much of its focus is in getting parents into work, while recognising the particular barriers parents in London face.
11 boroughs have included the national indicator (NI116) on reducing child poverty as a local priority. The eleven are Ealing, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Westminster. Together, they have pledged to lift 21,000 children out of poverty in the next three years. One quarter of all local authorities in England who chose this indicator as a priority are in London.
Data used
Figures for 2006/07 taken from Households Below Average Income series, Department for Work and Pensions
The London Child Poverty Commission (2008) Capital Gains; London Child Poverty Commission Final Report, LCPC
Indicator last updated: 18 May 2009
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Other indicators in Children
- Poverty in Inner and Outer London
- In-work poverty across England
- Children in households receiving out-of-work benefits
- Child ill health
- Infant deaths by borough
- Attainment at age 11 by borough
- Free school meals and attainment at age 11
- Households in temporary accommodation
- Underage conception by borough
- Children in workless households over time
- Children in workless households by type
- Attainment at age 11 by region
- In-work poverty over time
Other indicators in Ealing
Other indicators in Enfield
Other indicators in Hackney
- Working-age adults lacking work by borough
- Attainment at age 11 by borough
- Premature death by borough
- Attainment at age 16 by borough
Other indicators in Haringey
Other indicators in Islington
- Income inequalities within London boroughs
- Adult ill-health by borough
- Premature death by region
- Low-paid residents by borough
- New homeless households by borough
- Premature death by borough
- Attainment at age 16 by borough
Other indicators in Kensington and Chelsea
- Income inequalities within London boroughs
- Pay inequalities within London
- Premature death by region
- Overcrowding by borough
- Premature death by borough
- Attainment at age 16 by borough
Other indicators in Newham
- Income inequalities within London boroughs
- Pay inequalities within London
- Working-age adults lacking work by borough
- Infant deaths by borough
- Adult ill-health by borough
- Premature death by region
- Low-paid residents by borough
- Low-paid jobs by borough
- Attainment at age 11 by borough
- Premature death by borough
- Attainment at age 16 by borough
Other indicators in Tower Hamlets
- Income inequalities within London boroughs
- Working-age adults lacking work by borough
- Premature death by region
- Low-paid residents by borough
- Low-paid jobs by borough
- Attainment at age 11 by borough
- Households in temporary accommodation by borough
- Overcrowding by borough
- Premature death by borough
Other indicators in Waltham Forest
- Low-paid residents by borough
- Low-paid jobs by borough
- New homeless households by borough
- Attainment at age 16 by borough
Other indicators in Westminster
- Working-age adults lacking work by borough
- Low-paid jobs by borough
- Overcrowding by borough
- Attainment at age 16 by borough