New research from Save the Children show that in some major cities more than one in four children live in penury.

The charity says 1.6m youngsters live in "severe poverty" which it says is a "national scandal". With unemployment rising and a radical shake up of the welfare system seeing £18bn wiped from benefits, the charity fears the number of children living without the basics will rise unless action is taken.

The government's surveys defines severe poverty as a household with half the average income - for a family of four this would be pay of less than £12,500 - but also suffers from material deprivation. For example, this would mean children were unable to take a holiday or invite friends home for tea and adults were not able to pay for repairs to fridges or afford insurance.

The research shows in 29 areas more than one in five children now lives in severe poverty.

The charity found Manchester and the London borough of Tower Hamlets have the highest proportion, with 27%. More than 20% of children also experienced severe poverty in Birmingham and Liverpool.

In the UK, Wales has the highest proportion of children living in severe poverty (14%), followed by England with 13%, then Scotland and Northern Ireland which have 9% each.

The charity were also concerned that the government proposes switching focus from traditional anti-poverty measures, based on income, to improving children's life chances – a controversial move ministers have characterised as treating disadvantage's "causes not its symptoms".

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Data summary

Children living in poverty 2008/09. Click heading to sort table. Download this data Region Local Authority Children in poverty % of children, 0-18 North West Manchester 25000 27 London Tower Hamlets 12000 27 London Newham 14000 25 East Midlands Leicester 16000 24 London Westminster 9000 24 East Midlands Nottingham 12000 23 West Midlands Birmingham 52000 23 North West Liverpool 19000 23 North West Blackpool 6000 22 West Midlands Wolverhampton 10000 22 West Midlands Sandwell 14000 22 London Waltham Forest 10000 22 London Haringey 11000 22 London Enfield 15000 22 London Barking and Dagenham 9000 22 London Hackney 10000 22 North West Halton 5000 21 London Southwark 11000 21 London Lambeth 12000 21 London Islington 6000 21 Wales Blaenau Gwent 2000 20 West Midlands Walsall 11000 20 North West Knowsley 6000 20 North West Salford 8000 20 London Redbridge 11000 20 London Lewisham 11000 20 London Hounslow 9000 20 London Hammersmith and Fulham 6000 20 London Greenwich 10000 20 West Midlands Stoke-on-Trent 9000 19 East Midlands Derby 9000 19 Yorkshire & Humber Kingston upon Hull 10000 19 North East Newcastle upon Tyne 8000 19 North West Oldham 9000 19 London Kensington and Chelsea 6000 19 London Camden 7000 19 London Brent 11000 19 Scotland Glasgow 17000 18 Wales Newport 5000 18 Wales Torfaen 3000 18 Wales Caerphilly 6000 18 Wales Swansea 8000 18 North West Blackburn with Darwen 6000 18 Yorkshire & Humber Bradford 19000 18 North East Sunderland 8000 18 North East South Tyneside 5000 18 North West Rochdale 8000 18 London Ealing 11000 18 London Croydon 11000 18 London Barnet 11000 18 North West St. Helens 6000 18 North East Middlesbrough 5000 18 Wales Rhondda, Cynon, Taff 8000 17 North East Hartlepool 3000 17 West Midlands Dudley 10000 17 West Midlands Coventry 11000 17 North West Tameside 7000 17 North West Bolton 8000 17 London Wandsworth 8000 17 London Hillingdon 9000 17 Wales Cardiff 10000 16 Wales Merthyr Tydfil 2000 16 Wales Neath Port Talbot 4000 16 Wales Carmarthenshire 5000 16 South West Bristol 12000 16 West Midlands Telford and Wrekin 5000 16 Yorkshire & Humber North East Lincolnshire 5000 16 North East Redcar and Cleveland 4000 16 North East Gateshead 5000 16 Yorkshire & Humber Sheffield 15000 16 Yorkshire & Humber Rotherham 8000 16 Yorkshire & Humber Doncaster 9000 16 North West Sefton 8000 16 London Harrow 7000 16 Wales Bridgend 4000 15 Wales Pembrokeshire 3000 15 Wales Denbighshire 3000 15 Wales Gwynedd 3000 15 South East Southampton 6000 15 Eastern Luton 6000 15 East Midlands Rutland 1000 15 North East County Durham 13000 15 Yorkshire & Humber Leeds 19000 15 West Midlands Solihull 6000 15 North East North Tyneside 5000 15 Yorkshire & Humber Barnsley 7000 15 North West Wirral 8000 15 North West Wigan 9000 15 North West Bury 5000 15 London Sutton 6000 15 London Havering 7000 15 London Bromley 9000 15 London Bexley 6000 15 East Midlands Nottinghamshire 22000 15 Wales Conwy 3000 14 Wales Isle of Anglesey 2000 14 South East Slough 4000 14 South West Bournemouth 4000 14 South West Plymouth 7000 14 Yorkshire & Humber North Lincolnshire 4000 14 North East Northumberland 7000 14 North East Darlington 3000 14 North East Stockton-on-Tees 5000 14 Yorkshire & Humber Wakefield 8000 14 Yorkshire & Humber Calderdale 5000 14 North West Stockport 7000 14 London Merton 6000 14 East Midlands Derbyshire 19000 14 North West Lancashire 31000 14 East Midlands Northamptonshire 19000 14 East Midlands Lincolnshire 16000 14 West Midlands Worcestershire 14000 14 Scotland Clackmannanshire 1000 14 Scotland West Dunbartonshire 2000 14 Scotland North Ayrshire 4000 14 Wales The Vale of Glamorgan 3000 14 West Midlands Staffordshire 21000 14 Wales Wrexham 3000 13 South East Isle of Wight 3000 13 South East Portsmouth 5000 13 South West Poole 3000 13 South West Torbay 3000 13 South West Bath and North East Somerset 4000 13 West Midlands Shropshire 7000 13 West Midlands Herefordshire, County of 4000 13 North West Warrington 5000 13 North West Cheshire East 8000 13 Yorkshire & Humber Kirklees 11000 13 London Richmond upon Thames 4000 13 London Kingston upon Thames 4000 13 West Midlands Warwickshire 13000 13 South West Cornwall 12000 13 South East Brighton and Hove 6000 13 North West Cheshire West & Chester 8000 13 Wales Ceredigion 1000 12 Wales Powys 3000 12 South East Milton Keynes 6000 12 South East Reading 3000 12 South East Medway 6000 12 Eastern Thurrock 4000 12 Eastern Southend-on-Sea 4000 12 Eastern Peterborough 4000 12 South West Wiltshire 11000 12 North West Trafford 5000 12 North West Cumbria 10000 12 East Midlands Leicestershire 15000 12 South West Somerset 10000 12 South West Dorset 8000 12 Yorkshire & Humber North Yorkshire 12000 12 Scotland North Lanarkshire 7000 12 Scotland Dundee City 3000 12 Wales Flintshire 3000 11 Eastern Bedford 3000 11 South West Swindon 4000 11 South West South Gloucestershire 5000 11 South East Kent 30000 11 Eastern Norfolk 15000 11 Eastern Essex 28000 11 South West Gloucestershire 11000 11 South West Devon 14000 11 South East West Sussex 15000 11 Scotland East Ayrshire 2000 11 Scotland Edinburgh 7000 11 Scotland Inverclyde 1000 11 Scotland West Lothian 4000 11 Wales Monmouthshire 1000 10 South West North Somerset 4000 10 Yorkshire & Humber York 3000 10 Yorkshire & Humber East Riding of Yorkshire 6000 10 Eastern Suffolk 13000 10 Eastern Hertfordshire 21000 10 South East Surrey 22000 10 Scotland Falkirk 3000 10 Scotland Fife 7000 10 Scotland Renfrewshire 3000 10 Scotland South Ayrshire 2000 10 Scotland South Lanarkshire 6000 10 South East East Sussex 10000 10 South East Bracknell Forest 2000 9 South East Oxfordshire 10000 9 Scotland Angus 2000 9 Scotland Dumfries & Galloway 2000 9 Scotland Stirling 1000 9 South East Buckinghamshire 10000 9 Eastern Cambridgeshire 10000 9 Scotland Aberdeen City 3000 9 South East Hampshire 20000 9 South East Wokingham 3000 8 South East Windsor and Maidenhead 2000 8 South East West Berkshire 2000 8 Scotland Scottish Borders 1000 8 Scotland East Lothian 1000 8 Scotland East Renfrewshire 1000 8 Scotland Midlothian 1000 8 Scotland Argyll and Bute 1000 8 Eastern Central Bedfordshire 4000 8 Scotland Aberdeenshire 3000 7 Scotland Moray 1000 7 Scotland Perth and Kinross 2000 7 Scotland East Dunbartonshire 1000 6 Scotland Highland 2000 6 Scotland Eilean Siar 0 4 Scotland Orkney Islands 0 3 Scotland Shetland Islands 0 3

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