Hastings and Rye Constituency Has "Worst Child Poverty In The South"

Wednesday, 14 October 2020 12:26

By John Warburton @Warblefly

Child poverty in two parts of Sussex, the constituencies of Hastings & Rye, and Eastbourne, is among the worst in the south, according to new figures.

According to government figures covering up to 2019, 37.8% of children in Hastings and Rye are in poverty-stricken families, equivalent to very nearly two in five of all those aged 16 or under.

The figure in Eastbourne is 32.6%.

Loughborough University researchers, who examined government statistics, said they defined a family in poverty as having earnings that are less than 60% of the median average (the middle figure of all earnings), after taking into account housing costs.

Because these figures were measured before the coronavirus pandemic struck, and many families' income streams were reduced, it's being suggested that the true proportion of children in poverty today is significantly worse than in these statistics.

The campaign group "End Child Poverty" released the figures from the Loughborough Centre for Research in Social Policy, saying:

"The impact of poverty on children is well documented with children from low income families more likely to experience worse physical and mental health; do less well in school; and have fewer opportunities in the future."

Its chair, Anna Feuchtwang, added:

“The Government can be in no doubt about the challenge it faces if it is serious about ‘levelling up’ disadvantaged parts of the country.

"This new data reveals the true extent of the hardship experienced by families on low incomes – the overwhelming majority of which were working households before the pandemic.

"The children affected are on a cliff edge, and the pandemic will only sweep them further into danger."

End Child Poverty said today (October 14) that is calling for an urgent Government plan to end child poverty including:

Uprating of housing assistance in line with inflation;
Retain the £20 uplift in Universal Credit introduced at the start of the pandemic, which the Government has indicated will end in April 2021(a move supported by over 63k people and counting who have signed a petition to the Government);
End the benefit cap and the two-child limit on benefits;
Invest in all children with an increase to child benefit
Extend Free School Meals to all families in receipt of Universal Credit and those with No Recourse to Public Funds

The income levels given by the university were: