Shocking figures show sheer scale of child poverty in Leicester

New figures show that more than half of children in some Leicester neighbourhoods are living in poverty.

Years of austerity combined with insecure employment mean an estimated 43,677 children in Leicestershire are living below the poverty line even though the vast majority – 30,866 of them – have at least one parent who has a job.

The figures are based on data that is about a year old – it is expected that coronavirus has already made the situation much worse.

In the Leicester East constituency, no less than 42 per cent of children live under the poverty line – defined by people living of less than 60 per cent of the average household income.

One neighbourhood, just to the west of Spinney Hill Park, has a child poverty figure of 51 per cent.

The area includes Melbourne Street, Cecil Road, Maynard Road and Wilson Street.

Claudia Webbe, MP for Leicester East, said the problem was “unacceptable and outrageous”.

She said: “I’ve been highlighting this issue for some time. There are high levels of child poverty in Leicester and particularly in my constituency, which is 60 per cent black, Asian and ethnic minority.

“It’s terrible and this is the product of years of insecure working practices and ideologically-driven austerity.

“Communities are suffering and in areas like the east of Leicester the inequalities are stark.

“People are in precarious jobs with no security and children are having to suffer living in poverty-stricken homes as a result.”

There are pockets of deprivation throughout the county, with one in every six Leicestershire youngster under 18 living in a household affected by poverty.

In the county as a whole, 17 per cent of children live in poverty, with the biggest problem in the city, where 27 per cent live below the poverty line.

Elsewhere, 13 per cent of youngsters in North West Leicestershire live in poverty, as well as 11 per cent in Blaby, nine per cent in Harborough and 12 per cent in each of the other constituencies – Melton, Charnwood, Hinckley and Bosworth, and Oadby and Wigston.

The figures show that finding a job is not a guaranteed route out of poverty.

Ms Webbe said a large number of the families living in poverty in her constituency had either one or two working adults but still struggled to make ends meet.

“We’re mostly talking about the working poor,” she said.

“Even before the outbreak of coronavirus the working poor had become the norm – they go out to work but come home with insufficient money and often have to chose between eating and heating the house. Many rely on food banks.

“Even with two parents working it’s sometimes insufficient. There are also unscrupulous employers in some cases.

“With the current levels of benefits, income is not enough and we should all be ashamed by the inequality – it’s unacceptable and outrageous.

“After the coronavirus outbreak ends we need a different society going forward.”

She said the risks and sacrifices being made by carers, cleaners and other low-paid key workers during the outbreak made it all the more important they get a decent standard of living in the future.

To find out child poverty figures in your area, use the online tool below, which sorts neighbourhoods based on postcodes.

The data is based on income figures from March 2019 and population figures for mid-2018 and with the coronavirus lockdown affecting local economies everywhere, there are fears the real situation could already be much worse.

Abu Taher, a long-term resident of the Spinney Hills area from Bangladesh who was awarded an MBE for his charity work in the city in 2003, said an already dire situation was being made much worse by the outbreak.

He said: “The Spinney Hills area has many people coming from Third World countries and they can’t find a suitable job and they’re working part-time or in low pay jobs in warehouses and other places that don’t pay enough.

“It’s been a problem in this area for a long time and even before coronavirus it was rising again over the past two to three years, with more than 40 per cent of all the children in the Leicester East constituency living in poverty.

“Now we have the pandemic it’s even worse, with businesses closing and jobs going.

“It’s very hard for these people to find a way to cope.

“It’s a very worrying moment for us and for everyone.”

Charities have also warned that child poverty is only going to get worse because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Judith Cavanagh, coordinator of the End Child Poverty coalition, said: “These figures from the government show the extent to which we have been failing children in poverty even before the outbreak of coronavirus.

“We have not all entered this crisis equally. Children in poverty will be among the worst affected by the crisis as households see their income hit further, through loss of employment and the increased costs of staying home – such as food, fuel bills and supporting homeschooling.

“Policies such as the two-child limit on children’s benefits and the benefit cap have made a significant contribution to the rise in child poverty over the past five years.

“As more families now have to turn to the benefits system as a result of coronavirus we are urging the government to scrap those policies, which they argued acted as incentives to get people into work.

“We would also like the government to introduce an immediate increase to child benefit of £10 per child as a fast and effective means of getting support to low income families.

“Children in low income families have been failed over the past 5 years. Our response to Covid-19 must not fail them again.”

A Department of Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “We are doing whatever it takes to support the lowest paid families through these unprecedented times, implementing an extensive package of measures to do so.

“Widespread support is available to families, including increased Universal Credit payments, contributory benefits, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, Self-employment Income Support Scheme, Statutory Sick Pay, mortgage holidays and greater protection for renters.

“Despite the challenges of the current pandemic we remain committed to providing opportunities and tackling the root causes of poverty.”

Claudia Webbe MP is the member of Parliament for Leicester East. You can follow her at www.facebook.com/claudiaforLE and twitter.com/ClaudiaWebbe