Toll soars of poor children in working households

There are now 2.1 million impoverished children living in homes where their parents or carers have jobs, according to a study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

The Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion report found that the overall number of children living in poverty fell to 3.7 million.

The Foundation said the number of poverty-stricken children who live in workless households fell to 1.6 million – the lowest figure since 1984.

However, the figures show that those who come from working households accounts for 58 per cent of the total number of young people living in poverty.

Co-author of the report, Tom MacInnes, said: "The fall in child poverty among those in out-of-work households came about despite an estimated rise of 60,000 in the number of children living in workless households over the year.

"So, we can almost certainly say that it is related to the rise in both Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit in 2008. Without the substantial increases in these benefits, the numbers of children in poverty would be around half a million higher.

"With more than half of all children in poverty belonging to working families, it is simply not possible to base anti-poverty policies on the idea that work alone is a route out of poverty.

"Child poverty in working households must be given the same focus as out-of-work poverty. Until this happens, debates about poverty will continue to be misleading".

The report also found that between 2008 and 2009, 13 million people in the UK were living in poverty.

It also discovered that by mid-2010, the unemployment rate among those aged 16-24 was the highest in 18 years.