31% of Children in the UK are living in Relative Poverty

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The latest research from the Nuffield Foundation has found that 31% of children in the United Kingdom are living in relative poverty in 2021.

The percentage rises to 36% for children under five years old.

The rates of child poverty have been increasing on average for the last five years.

Child Poverty and Ethnicity

There are some large differences by ethnic group, with Bangladeshi Households having the highest child poverty rates, more than twice the national average, and Indian families having the lowest.

Family type and Child Poverty

It’s probably no surprise that single parent families have the highest rates of child poverty, with child poverty rates of 60%.

Defining and Measuring Relative Poverty

The Nuffield Foundation collects its data on poverty from the Households Below Average Income statistics, which define relative poverty as household income below 60% of median income after housing costs.

The relative poverty figures are then adjusted for family size, which gives us the following amounts of income per week in 2021:

£248 or less a week for a lone parent with one child.
£305 or less a week for a lone parent with two children.

£342 or less a week for a couple with one child.
£399 or less a week for a couple with two children.

Relevance to A-Level Sociology

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Find out More

You can read the the full report by the Nuffield Foundation here.