CHILD poverty levels in Weston-super-Mare are among the worst in the South West, according to new research.

The End Child Poverty campaign ranks the resort 11th worst out of 51 constituencies in the South West.

It uses the percentage of children in families on out of work benefits as its definition of child poverty.

In Weston and surrounding villages, this equates to 19 per cent of people and as many as one in five children are therefore living in low income households.

Mike Bell, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Weston, said: “I fully support the End Child Poverty campaign.

“Child poverty is a blight on our society.

“In Weston, it affects thousands of children and their families.

“Ministers in Whitehall and Westminster seem to think that everywhere in the West Country is green, leafy and prosperous.

“But the real picture is different.

“The Government needs to wake up to the reality in Britain’s coastal and rural communities.

“It used to be true that if you worked hard, you could give your family a good life.

“But in Gordon Brown's Britain we are now seeing another story as families, both in work and out of it, are struggling to make ends meet.

“After ten years of Labour Government, the number of people living in poverty is going up.”

To help hard-pressed families, the Liberal Democrats have proposed a package of measures.

They would cut national and local taxes seeing the basic rate of income tax by one-fifth, from 20 per cent to 16 per cent and abolish the unfair council tax and replace it with a fairer system based on ability to pay.  

Spending in schools would be increased for those who need it most, and the group would also tackle poor housing, which shows a persistent link with poverty.

The End Child Poverty campaign says 3.9 million children are living in poverty in the UK after housing costs.

Levels have risen from one in 10 in 1979 to one in three in 1998 and today, 30 per cent of children in Britain are living in poverty.

According to research poverty shortens lives and often babies from poor families are born with low birth weight, which is closely associated with infant death and chronic diseases in later life.

Other research found children aged up to 14 from unskilled families are five times more likely to die in an accident than children from professional families, and 15 times more likely to die in a fire at home.

For more information visit: http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/why-end-child-poverty/poverty-in-your-area#southWest <http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/why-end-child-poverty/poverty-in-your-area>