Shocking figures reveal one in five children living in poverty

In Bradford, 26 per cent of those aged under 18 live below the poverty line, 21 per cent in Leeds and 20 per cent in Wakefield, Calderdale and Kirklees, the End Child Poverty charity said.

The figures have prompted Kirklees Council to launch a major new strategy to tackle the problem, as councillors said poverty had become a “day-to-day reality for too many residents”.

The Child Poverty Map of the UK, which shows figures for every council ward in Britain, defined a household in poverty if the total income, including benefits received, is less than 60 per cent of the median national figure of £31,600.

In Leeds, the worst affected areas were Hyde Park and Woodhouse (46 per cent), Burmantofts and Richmond Hill (45) and Gipton and Harehills (42).

The worst area of Kirklees was Newsome, with 33 per cent of children living in poverty.

The council report, which will be discussed at full council today, says 20,495 children in Kirklees are affected.

In addition, one in six working age adults in Kirklees are not working and claiming benefits, and there are 14,699 retired people – or one in five – living in poverty.

The report states: “Poverty is still a day-to-day reality for one in five of all Kirklees residents.

“All our recent work on understanding our local communities have identified the scale of poverty experienced by people across Kirklees and the major factors that contribute to the persistence of poverty.”

The five-pronged strategy, entitled “Not just surviving but thriving” – will aim to:

- Increase access to education and training for those out of work as well as encouraging young people to gain qualifications

- Capitalise on the strength of the manufacturing sector in Kirklees to create more jobs and drag the area out of recession

- Reduce the bill for housing benefits payments

- Help people avoid going into debt and tackle fuel poverty

- Help people adjust to proposed changes in the welfare benefits system, including more stringent assessments of incapacity benefits.

Kirklees Council leader Mehboob Khan said: “In my three years on the council, it has been a strong personal ambition to reduce the number of people in Kirklees who live below the poverty line.

“We have already seen improvements in GCSE results and an increase in the number of young people staying on in education or training, but there’s always a need for improvements.

“Our resources will be directed at families with the greatest need, with job centre connections to help young people and the unemployed to find work.

“We’ll also promote skills and employability for adults, and other things such as health care and financial responsibility.

“We will take a strong approach to, and a reflective look at, this generational unemployment. We cannot continue with this culture.

“Parents need to be aspirational and be an example to their children.

“There should be no more culture of dependency on benefits, we need to encourage a self-help mentality. If we get people into work, then their life changes and by investing in this now we save money in the long term on things like health services and council services.”

Alison Garnham, executive director of the End Child Poverty campaign, said: “Child poverty costs us billions picking up the pieces of damaged lives and unrealised potential, so it’s a false economy if we don’t prioritise looking after children today.

“The Government urgently needs a serious plan to stop the rise in unemployment and to create jobs so that young people and parents can get out of the dole queue and into the workplace.”