Child Poverty
Over half a million live below poverty threshold
Children in households with below 60% median income (after housing costs)
During the period 2002/03 to 2004/05, two out of five children in London lived below the poverty threshold after housing costs have been met. This amounts to over 600,000 children. Based on this definition, more than half of the children in Inner London lived in poverty.
London has the highest proportion of children living in income poverty (after housing costs have been met) of any region or country in Great Britain.
The proportion of children living below the poverty threshold is lower than in the mid 1990s. However, there has been no consistent reduction in child poverty since 2000.
In spring 2006, 26 per cent of all London's children lived in households with no adult in work. This is by far the highest of any of the English regions and well above the UK average of 16 per cent.
In contrast, 39 per cent of children lived in households where all the adults had work. This was well below the UK rate of 54 per cent.
Two-thirds of children in workless households were in lone parent households.
In August 2005, over a quarter (around 460,000) of children in London lived in families where at least one adult was claiming a key social security benefit. Three-quarters of these children lived in lone parent families.
For lone parents, the gap in employment rates between London and the rest of the UK doubled in size between 1995 to 1996 and 2004 to 2005 (two-year averages). The lone parent employment rate in London increased from 38 per cent to 43 per cent. Outside London, the equivalent rate rose from 45 per cent to 58 per cent.
Among couple families with children in London, 11 per cent were workless in autumn 2005. This was twice the proportion in the rest of the UK. In contrast, 56 per cent of couple families in London were work-rich. This is a far lower proportion than for the rest of the UK (70 per cent).
Sources: Households Below Average Income, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP); Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Notes: Income poverty: the definition of a household in income poverty is one whose income is below 60 per cent of median income. This is measured after taking account of the size and composition of the household and is used as an indication of material living standards. Key benefits are: Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support, Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, and Disability Living Allowance. Workless families: No adults in work. Work-rich families: Both/all adults in work.
printer-friendly
Focus On London home