Nearly a fifth of Coventry children living in severe poverty

[dutchman]

New figures show 11,000 kids in Coventry are being forced to live in severe poverty.



Save the Children claim 17% of the city’s youngsters are facing a day-to day struggle – above the national average of 13%.

For the first time the charity have broken down the figures by local authority to give us some idea of just how bad the problem is where we live.

Manchester has the highest proportion of children living in severe poverty, followed by the London borough of Tower Hamlets.

Birmingham is the worst area in the West Midlands with 23% of children on the breadline and the region as a whole has the highest figures outside London.

There’s fears the situation will get even worse as unemployments and cuts to the welfare system start to take hold.

Sally Copley, Save the Children’s head of UK policy said: “Children up and down the country are going to sleep at night in homes with no heating, without eating a proper meal and without proper school uniforms to put on in the morning.”

“No child should be born without a chance. It is a national scandal that 1.6 million children are growing up in severe poverty.”