Islington among worst areas for child poverty

A report commissioned by the Campaign to End Child Poverty and released ths week, has listed Islington as one of the areas most affected by child poverty. Six of the top seven areas were London boroughs, with Tower Hamlets listed as the area with the highest proportion (52%) of children living in pvoerty, followed by Islington (43%) and Manchester (40%). Children are classed as in poverty if their family's income fell below 60% of the average income of £25,000.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies has warned that a growing gap between income and the cost of living, exacerbated by cuts to child benefit, has hit families particularly hard over the past twelve months. With salaries increasing below inflation or remaining frozen and the cost of food and fuel increasing rapidly, the Institute predicts that many families will struggle to meet the cost of basic needs.

Poverty is known to have an effect on children's physical and social wellbeing, educational achievement, employment and economic prospects later in life. The recent recession has led to a big increase in the numbers of children affected by their parents' joblessness or cuts to wages or hours worked, one that may have a lasting impact.

Although Islington is often considered a wealthy London borough

characterised by boutique shops and organic fine dining, the findings of

the campaign's report will not come as a surprise to the Islington Fairness Commission,

which released its own report last year. Entitled "Closing the Gap",

the report examines social inequality and suggests ways of improving the

current contrasts between rich and poor in the area.

The work of the Fairness Commission took place over 12 months from June

2010, and found that "Islington is marked by some of the starkest

contrasts of wealth and poverty in the country". In July, the commission

made a series of recommendations, including: ensuring that all

Islington employees are paid the minimum London living wage of £8.30/hr,

encouraging businesses to employ local people, and establishing affordable childcare to help new parents return to work.

To find out more about the Islington Fairness Commission, see this page.

To find out more about the Child Poverty Action Group, visit www.cpag.org.uk