What you need to know:
- Child poverty rates in London are among the highest in the country and many families are now facing severe hardship in the face of the cost-of-living crisis.
- Despite the rhetoric of ‘levelling up’ which often paints a picture of London’s streets being paved with gold, for many in our city the reality is very different.
- Nine out of the ten council areas in England with the highest child poverty rates are in London.
- The very highest rate is to be found in Tower Hamlets where a staggering 56% of children live in poverty. And even in the outer boroughs where the average rates of child poverty are lower there are pockets of high deprivation.
The London Child Poverty Alliance is asking all those hoping to be elected or re-elected as councillors in May 2022 to publicly commit to working towards a child poverty free London.
Child poverty rates in London are among the highest in the country and many families are now facing severe hardship in the face of the cost-of-living crisis.
Nine out of the ten council areas in England with the highest child poverty rates are in London. The very highest rate is to be found in Tower Hamlets where a staggering 56% of children live in poverty.
There are many ways prospective councillors can take meaningful steps are taken to address child poverty in London. The London Child Poverty Alliance’s manifesto includes practical policy actions within the power of local councils, which can tackle child poverty in your community. This includes policy actions on:
- Income
- Housing
- Childcare
- Hunger
Across London there are examples of good practice where local councils have taken innovative action to tackle child poverty in a concerted and systematic way. Some examples include:
- Setting up a poverty commission to listen to the experiences of those who are facing financial hardship.
- Publishing a child poverty strategy, to set out a clear roadmap to eliminating child poverty within the borough and provide accountability for making progress.
- Implementing (voluntarily) the socio-economic duty set out in Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010, so that decisions and policies taken by the council are routinely looked at through the lens of socio-economic inequality.
- Committing to becoming a London Living Wage Borough by becoming an accredited London Living Wage employer and providing support and incentives for businesses and other local employers to do the same.
29 March 2022
29 March 2022