Bristol has highest child poverty figures in south west
A QUARTER of all children in Bristol live in poverty, a new report claims.
More children in the city live in poverty than any other part of the South West, with Torbay at 22 per cent, Plymouth at 21 per cent and Gloucester at 19 per cent.
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A child in poverty is defined as a child living in a household where the income is below 60 per cent of the average household income, which stands at £359 a week after tax and housing costs have been removed.
The figure is adjusted for the number of children in the household.
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Peter Townsend, of the Child Poverty Action Group, said: "Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in the activities, and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or are at least encouraged and approved, in the societies in which they belong."
The new statistics are from pressure group The Campaign to End Child Poverty.
In North Somerset 14 per cent of children were classed as being in poverty, while for South Gloucestershire the figure was 11 per cent and in Bath & North East Somerset it was 12 per cent.
When given by constituency Bristol South has an even higher level of deprivation, with 29 per cent of children living in poverty.
Bristol City Council has produced a Bristol Child Poverty Strategy, which has identified that child poverty is not evenly distributed across the city, with Lawrence Hill having almost 2,300 children (60 per cent) in poverty, putting it in the bottom percentile of all wards nationally.
The plan also says an "unusually high proportion" of children in poverty (75.5 per cent) live in lone parent families, compared with 67.4 per cent in other comparable cities.
Alastair Watson, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: "For a wealthy and prosperous city Bristol still has too many children who live in conditions that could blight their life chances.
"The council has led work to bring together all agencies and authorities who work with children and families to examine the issue and put strategies in place."
"This covers practical measures such as help with access to childcare to get parents back into employment; supporting parents to access adult learning to progress to better paid jobs and giving benefits and debt advice."
7 Comments
by lolly60
Friday, February 22 2013, 7:49AM
“Poverty is when you have no food or water and anywhere other than a old mud hut to live in ,that's poverty”
by collegefields
Wednesday, February 20 2013, 9:23PM
“There is no real poverty in this country, yes admittedly a lot of dam right lies, but no real poverty.
Not having the latest, Mobile phone, DVD, Vauxhall Corsa, Gamestation, Computer, Ugg Boots, Superdry Gear, Budgie Hoop Ear Rings, Fake Tan, Needless Toys, Television, Kappa Tracksuit, Trainers, Highlights, Scooter, Cigarettes, Pushchairs, Chocolates (as pictured) etc etc etc, will never constitute poverty.
Now there are people who struggle, lost jobs, and unforeseen break-ups, illness, death in the family, yes it's a major struggle, but not real poverty.
Have a search for Vulture and Child, now thats real poverty.”
by PaulS81
Wednesday, February 20 2013, 12:23PM
“There is a massive difference between "relative poverty" and Real poverty. Reports like this do a huge disservice to the families that are genuinely struggling. Things like cars, mobiles and internet are taken into account these days when saying someone is in poverty which is total rubbish. An inconvenience yes, but to say someone is in poverty is wrong.”
by 2TheBeehive
Wednesday, February 20 2013, 10:14AM
“Actually, as the wages are taken as and average of £26,000 and I doubt that this figure is a representative of very many real incomes in the South West, the weekly total of £359 per week is probably not applicable to very many households in the area.”
by 2TheBeehive
Wednesday, February 20 2013, 9:23AM
“£359 per week! AFTER tax and AFTER housing costs have been taken out!? POVERTY!!!! I am beginning to lose my rag with this country. If these people think that £359 is poverty then God help them if they really do have to suffer in REAL poverty.”
by Elsewhereman
Wednesday, February 20 2013, 9:16AM
“"The figure is adjusted for the number of children in the household."
What to? And how? Because the top-line figure given in this report would suggest that a child living in a household with a weekly disposable income of £215 before fuel costs are taken into account is "in poverty".
Poverty to me means not having enough money to meet basic needs like food and clothing. Or are the report's authors defining poverty as not being able to afford more than one new X-Box game every week?”
by Big_Gregory
Wednesday, February 20 2013, 9:05AM
“Perhaps people without sufficient means should refrain from starting a family? Surely you should think about how you are going to manage financially beforehand - unless you are of the many having children just to secure taxpayer funded accomodation and income!”