North West Families Struggle: Child Poverty Data Released

Today (26 March), for the first time, the government has produced child poverty figures (after housing costs) for every constituency and local authority across the UK.

This new data shows that almost 1 in 3 children across the North West are living in poverty after the cost of housing. Across the UK, this figure stands at 27%.

This new data also shows that the vast majority of North West constituencies (59%) are home to families where at least 1 in 4 children live in poverty. This could mean families using food banks to feed their children, using baby banks so children don’t go without the essentials they need, like clothes or nappies, or living in cold or unsafe housing.

As this data is produced retrospectively, the impact of the government’s ‘Tackling Child Poverty Strategy’ cannot be seen in these figures. Scrapping the two-child limit (due to happen on 6th April 2026) and increasing eligibility for free school meals in England (September 2026), alongside other measures, will lead to a reduction in child poverty across the North West.

In this year’s data release, figures between 2021/22 and 2024/25 have been produced with an updated methodology and are not therefore directly comparable with earlier data produced under the previous methodology.

The End Child Poverty Coalition urges the government to continue investment to reduce child poverty levels and to continue with its work to tackle child poverty in the North West and across the UK.

Sophie Livingstone MBE, newly appointed chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition and CEO of Little Village baby banks, said: “No child in the West Midlands or beyond should have to experience poverty. So many parents are under such strain because the system isn’t working for them when childhood should be a time of safety and opportunity, not filled with worry about where the next meal will come from or how you’ll clothe your child.”