Cost of child poverty

Today Child Poverty Action Group published estimated costs generated by child poverty rates in every local authority and constituency in the UK. The local authority estimates, produced by Donald Hirsch of Loughborough University, are contained in a new report on how local authorities are trying to tackle child poverty at a time of social security cuts and upheaval.

The report, 'Local Authorities and Child Poverty: Balancing Threats with Opportunities' is launched today at a CPAG conference in Birmingham aimed at assisting local authorities fulfil their obligations under the Child Poverty Act to implement effective local child poverty strategies. The report and the conference have been funded by Barrow Cadbury Trust.

In the North East region the numbers of children officially living in poverty in each local authority and the cost is:

	Children below the relative poverty line	Cost of child poverty in £millions
1.    County Durham	27,230	296
2.    Newcastle upon Tyne	17,622	191
3.    Sunderland	17,185	187
4.    Northumberland	13,453	146
5.    Middlesbrough	12,300	134
6.    Gateshead	11,120	121
7.    Stockton-on-Tees	10,982	119
8.    North Tyneside	9,754	106
9.    South Tyneside	9,496	103
10.  Redcar and Cleveland	8,620	94
11.  Hartlepool	7,005	76
12.  Darlington	5,680	62

The North East is losing £1,635 million every year due to child poverty and a large part of that cost lands on council services. This is not only a waste of money but a waste of our children’s prospects. We need to stop paying for failure and instead invest in our children’s future potential.