More than a third of children in Manchester are living in poverty according to new data.
Recently released figures show that 35% of children across the North West are impoverished, with some areas in Greater Manchester showing rates as high as 40%.
Manchester’s child poverty rate sits at 43.6%, as does Oldham’s.
This puts Manchester in the top ten of local authorities with high child poverty rates.
Child poverty is measured by a few different factors, such as whether families are using food banks to feed their children, or going without heat or warm clothes in winter.
In Rusholme more than half of all children are living in poverty.
Bolton and Rochdale also have worryingly high rates of 41.6% and 41.2% respectively.
The worst of the local authorities in the North West is Pendle, which has a rate of 45%.
The research was carried out by Loughborough University for the End Child Poverty Coalition.
Spokesperson for the coalition Graham Whitham said: “No child should go without the things they need to be healthy and happy.
“For many this means being excluded from activities like school trips and days out, not having clothes that fit them, going to school hungry, and in some cases sharing a bed or sleeping on the floor”.
He noted that based on these figures, in an average school class of 30 children, 10 would be living in poverty in the North West.
In a statement published in June, the UK Government re-affirmed their manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty.
According to their figures, child poverty has increased nationally by 700,000 since 2010, and more than four million children are living in poverty, with 800,000 children using foodbanks.
However, Child Poverty Action Group have previously argued that proposed changes to personal independence payments, as part of the Government’s recent Welfare bill, would undermine their plans to tackle poverty.
Chief Executive Alison Garnham said that in families with disabled persons, children were at a higher risk of living in poverty.
She added: “Disability benefit cuts would only make life harder for these and many more families, undermining the government’s forthcoming child poverty strategy.”
Image credit: Thomas G, Pixabay
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