New figures show more than a third of children in Greater Manchester are living in poverty

Today (5 June) the end child poverty coalition launches its child poverty statistics for the UK revealing child poverty levels at a Local Authority level.

The research carried out by Loughborough University on behalf of the coalition shows that 37% of children and young people in Greater Manchester are living in poverty, the equivalent of a staggering 11 children in a classroom of 30. In Manchester this figure reaches 44.7% of all children and young people.

New research confirms the Greater Manchester Parliamentry seats with the highest levels of child poverty – with at least 40% of children now growing up poor in a third of the regions constituencies: Oldham West and Royton (51.3%) Bolton South East (50.9%) Manchester Gorton (50.8%) Blackley and Broughton (49.4%) Oldham East and Saddleworth (48.6%) Manchester Central (48.1%) Bolton North East (45.9%) Rochdale (44.8%) Ashton -Under-Lyne (41.6%)

Four of the city region’s local authorities also now feature in the list of twenty council areas with the highest poverty rates in the whole of the UK – with Manchester having the third highest child poverty rates in the country.

Commenting on the figures, Graham Whitham, End of Child Poverty Coalition spokesperson and CEO of Greater Manchester Poverty Action said: “These new figures are shocking but not surprising. Child poverty rates have been rising in Greater Manchester for a number of years, and government failure to adequately support people means there is no safety net when something like the pandemic or cost of living crisis hit.

“Crisis responses and temporary sticking plasters are very clearly not working and the UK government has no plan or strategy to address poverty, We need to see real policy change that protects and supports our poorest households, such as ending the two-child limit on benefits.

“While many of the main drivers to tackle poverty lie with central government, there are ways we can reduce poverty locally. We urge employers across Greater Manchester to pay the real Living Wage which reflects the real cost of living in a way that the statutory minimum set by government doesn’t. We also encourage local authorities to develop anti-poverty strategies which implement robust responses to poverty, and to use the Household Support Fund to give families money rather than in-kind support such as food parcels and energy vouchers.”

Across the North West as a whole the number of children living in poverty has seen a worrying increase in the last 7 years, rising 5.4 percentage points since 2014/15. During this time child poverty only rose by one percentage point across the UK.

Nationally, the cost of living crisis has driven up the number of children experiencing poverty to 4.2m last year (29% of all dependent children aged 0-19) with an increasing number living in working households.

Some 71% of them live in households where at least one adult works!

A mum of four from Stretford supported by Greater Manchester Poverty Action Group has struggled with limited benefits for the past year and a half.

Her money problems began a few years ago when her partner suffered an accident at work forcing him into unemployment until after his operation and two-year recovery process.

This meant they were a family of 6 with just £100 to see them through the month once all the bills were paid (Not including food shopping)

The mother said: “We went without eating properly to make sure the kids were fed. I wasn’t able to do anything with the kids, like treat them or take them out. Christmas was very hard and we relied on present donations, which made me feel useless.

“This made my mental health deteriorate along with other personal issues and there was a lot of stress and sleepless nights.

“We felt like there was no way out. I couldn’t return to work due to looking after my partner and kids. It made me feel worthless and hopeless, severe depression kicked in.”

The Stretford mother was put in touch with Greater Manchester Poverty Action’s Money Matters programme by her Children’s school. The programme helps people to maximise their income and manage debts.

The mother said: “They were a massive help and didn’t stop until they turned over every stone and did everything they could think of that would help us financially. It’s been a long year and a half battle with living on very minimal to now becoming that but more stable.”