Ten Things you Need to Know About Child Poverty in London
October 2016
Prepared for the Mayor’s Fund for London
# 1: Scale of child poverty in LondonA Child is described as living in poverty if they live in a household whose income is less than 60 per cent of
the contemporary median
700,000
37 %
Source: Households Below Average Income 2012/13-14/15
# 2: Some household characteristics associated with higher levels of child poverty
Living in workless
households70%
All figures shown are the proportion of children with those characteristics that are in poverty After Housing Costs across the UK for 2014/15. Source: 2014/15 HBAI
Living in lone parent households
45%
Household with 3 or more children1 in 3
Head of Household is
Black or Asian ethnic groupover 2 in 5 In a family
receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance
85%
Social renters 50%Private renters 45%
“Risk” of poverty for each characteristic
Household where an adult or child has a
disability 1 in 3
# 3: London’s child poverty is concentrated in these areas of multiple deprivation
#4: “Cheek by Jowl” is as true as everWestminster Ward Child Poverty RateKnightsbridge and Belgravia 3.9%Bryanston and Dorset Square 16.9%Abbey Road 17.4%Bayswater 18.2%Marylebone High Street 20.1%St James's 20.0%West End 20.7%Lancaster Gate 21.2%Regent's Park 24.0%Hyde Park 25.4%Tachbrook 28.9%Little Venice 29.8%Warwick 29.1%Vincent Square 31.6%Maida Vale 34.5%Harrow Road 39.7%Queen's Park 42.5%Churchill 45.4%Westbourne 47.1%Church Street 49.4%
London has the highest proportion of any region’s population in the lowest national income decile (15%)
and the second highest proportion in the highest income decile (also 15%)
Source: Children in low income households, 2014, DWP
Source: HBAI, DWP
#5: Child poverty has fallen but now stalled
94/95
-96/97
96/97
-98/99
98/99
-00/01
00/01
-02/03
02/03
-04/05
04/05
-06/07
06/07
-08/09
08/09
-10/11
10/11
-12/13
12/13
- 14/1
5
14/15
-16/17
16/17
-18/19
18/19
-20/21
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
London rela-tive BHCUK relative BHCLondon rela-tive AHC
Source: HBAI, DWP
97/98-99/00
98/99-00/01
99/00-01/02
00/01-02/03
01/02-03/04
02/03-04/05
03/04-05/06
04/05-06/07
05/06-07/08
06/07-08/09
07/08-09/10
08/09-10/11
09/10-11/12
10/11-12/13
11/12 - 13/14
12/13 - 14/15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Inner Lon-don
Outer Lon-don
# 6: Most children in poverty live in working households
All children living in poverty
Workless Households
Mixed Households(at least one adult in
work)
1996/97
2005/06
2014/15
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
All adults in
work
Source: HBAI, DWP
# 7: The proportion of children in workless households has fallen (but poverty has not)
WestminsterCamdenLambethIslington
Tower HamletsBarking and DagenhamKensington and Chelsea
HackneyBarnet
GreenwichHaringey
SouthwarkNewham
Waltham ForestLewisham
BexleyKingston upon Thames
HounslowEnfield
BrentHillingdon
BromleyHavering
Hammersmith and FulhamEaling
CroydonWandsworth
SuttonRedbridge
HarrowMerton
Richmond upon Thames
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0
2015 2010
Source: Annual Population Survey, ONS
#8: This is because of low pay, high costs and job insecurity Earnings have not kept pace with price increases, so
those in lower paid jobs can only do better by increasing their hours
Childcare in London costs at least a third more than average
1/5 jobs in London pays below the London Living Wage (LLW) including 1/2 of part-time jobs
250,000 Londoners work in temporary jobs. At least 1/3 want a permanent job
There are around 70,000 “zero hours contract” jobs in London
49% of disadvantaged pupils in London achieve 5+ A*-C grades at GCSE including English and Maths
compared with 37% of disadvantaged pupils in England as a whole
But 70% of non-disadvantaged pupils in London achieve the same
Overall, London’s children are more likely to gain level 3 qualifications (2+ A levels or equivalent), and to go on to Higher Education
# 9: London’s disadvantaged children get a better education but there is still an achievement gap
#10: Welfare and child poverty looking forward
Universal Credit designed to alleviate child poverty by improving work incentives.
But the combined impact of reforms to the tax and benefit system are set to increase relative child poverty.
Research suggests that these will out-weigh any positives of Universal Credit.
IFS project the net effect is for a further 1.2 million children nationwide to be living in relative poverty by 2020.
In summary, the evidence shows . . .
Child Poverty
Welfare and work
incentivesEmployment
Status
Education Housing Tenure &
Composition
Location
Health and Disability
Access to services eg childcare
Quality of employment
That all of the below influence the likelihood of a child being in poverty
Contact us
Find data and analysis at the London Datastore– https://data.london.gov.uk– Follow us on Twitter @LDN_data– Email us: [email protected]
See the Mayor’s Fund for London– www.mayorsfundforlondon.org.uk– Follow us on Twitter @MayorsFund– Email us: [email protected]