More than four million children are still living in poverty, the latest government figures show.

Analysts said figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) showed no rise in household income from from 2017 to 2018, meaning 30 per cent of British children live below the poverty line.

Child poverty campaigners said the data made for ‘grim reading’ while think tank Resolution Foundation said 70 per cent of children living in poverty are in working families.

There has been no improvement to the number of children living in poverty in the UK (Picture: Getty)

Analysis of the data showed absolute income poverty – defined as having income below 60 per cent of the 2010-11 median – was unchanged, with 19 per cent of the population being poor by this definition in 2017-18.




Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group Alison Garnham said: ‘Today’s poverty figures make grim reading with more than 4.1 million children still in poverty and a jump in the proportion of poor children in working families.

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‘Despite high employment, today’s figures reveal that 70 per cent of children living under the poverty line have at least one parent in work.

‘That is not an economy that is working for everyone.’

She blamed a freeze on benefits that was not rectified in the Budget.

‘The question that arises from today’s figures is why the Government is not making progress on child poverty when 4.1 million of our children will have diminished childhoods, their health and education compromised and their future earnings jeopardised,’ Alison said.

‘The face of child poverty is also getting younger – with the proportion of poor children who are under five having risen from 51 per cent to 53 per cent – and that is really worrying.

Research shows 70% of children in poverty are in working households (Picture: PA)

Speaking in the commons, DWP Secretary Amber Rudd moved to defend the figures by saying improvements had been made since the figures were taken.

‘Today’s statistics capture household incomes up to April 2018 – since then we’ve had nearly a year of real wage growth and this Government has made significant changes to increase the incomes of the poorest since then,’ she said.

She cited adding an ‘extra 1.7 billion’ dedicated to Universal Credit in the 2018 budget and a rise in minimum wage, to come into effect next month.

A Government spokesman said: ‘Tackling poverty will always be a priority for this Government, and we take these numbers extremely seriously.

‘Employment is at a record high, wages are outstripping inflation and income inequality and absolute poverty are lower than in 2010.

‘But we know some families need more support, which is why we continue to spend £95 billion a year on working-age benefits.

‘We are looking at what more can be done to help the most vulnerable and improve their life chances.’

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The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that after five years of recovery from post-recession declines, real income growth had ‘ground to a complete halt’ in the past year.

Research economist Pascale Bourquin said: ‘Average household income growth stalled in 2017-18 as inflation rose, eroding the real value of employees’ earnings and – in particular – working age benefits, which were frozen in cash terms.

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‘This was the first year of zero income growth since 2012-13, and leaves average incomes only 6 per cent above their pre-recession levels.



‘No income growth also meant that recent progress in reducing absolute poverty did not continue in 2017-18, with absolute poverty stuck at 19 per cent once housing costs are accounted for.’

The Resolution Foundation think tank said 70 per cent of children living in poverty were in working families.

The think tank predicted that child poverty is expected to rise over the coming years because of the continuing benefit freeze and other cuts.

Campaigners said a freeze on benefits and stagnant incomes are keeping people in poverty (Picture: Getty)

Adam Corlett of the Resolution Foundation said: ‘Typical household income growth ground to a halt in 2017 as a result of high inflation and weak pay growth.

‘Ongoing benefit cuts also meant that the number of children living in absolute poverty also increased by 200,000 – the first time this has happened since 2012.

‘With the bulk of the Government’s £12 billion of welfare cuts taking place after this period, child poverty is likely to continue rising, and could even hit a record high within the next few years.

‘The political conversation around austerity may have shifted but the lived experience of it hasn’t for millions of families.

‘Reducing child poverty needs to return to near the top of the Government’s priority list.’

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