30% of children live in poverty

Poverty continues to get worse, and the latest government statistics should that another 100,000 children now live in poverty in 2018 as compared to 2017. The problem is becoming severe and is not getting better, even though the economy in the UK continues to grow at a slow pace.

The problem is so bad that about 30 per cent of all children in the UK live in poverty. This means that they live in a home or flat in which the income is 60% or less of the median income in the UK. The parents of the home may struggle to buy food, pay the rent or mortgage, and cover other bills. Due to this financial challenges these children may be at risk of everything from homelessness to not getting the proper food they need to grow.

Reasons for increased child poverty in 2018

There are many reasons for this. Organisations such as Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and many ministers, in particular from the Labour, say the reduction in social benefits is hitting young people. There has also been a multiple year freeze on benefits. The parents are not receiving as much financial help for their bills, and programmes such as job training is not making up for it. The roll-out of the Universal Credit is often citied as well by many experts as the parent may not be budgeting properly. There have also been many changes to welfare schemes, including the Universal credit changes and others. But they can still offer financial help, and find local welfare schemes.

Benefit reductions or freezes are also hitting single-parent households. Children from those homes are often most at risk of poverty as the parent lives cheque to cheque. They often struggle to pay the bills, and the welfare reductions are hitting them very hard.

The government has also put a freeze on children benefits. This was done 2 years ago and still continues today. This means that homes will not get an increase in the £13 to £20.70 per week. While it may not seem like much money, when the parent is on a low income those extra funds can make a difference. There have also been changes to housing schemes and other welfare cutbacks.

Another reason cited can be Brexit. This has caused inflation to increase, in particular on food costs at grocery stores. This means that feeding a child has been taking more and more of the income of a struggling household. As wages are not increasing as fast as inflation, which causes more parents to fall into poverty. While they may turn to food banks for the help they need, the parcels of groceries are often not enough.

The 30% of children living in poverty is much higher than other groups as well. The government shows that only 16 per cent of pensioners live in poverty and 21% of working age adults are struggling in poverty as of 2018. So, children are almost 2 times as other age groups to be struggling, and experts say something needs to be done as it can impact the child over the long term; they may not be as educated, struggling with nutrition, and it can lead to future poverty.