After report shows 0.3% rise in child poverty across Wandsworth borough since 2014
More children in Wandsworth are living in poverty, according to a new report from the End Child Poverty charity. Local London Assembly Member Leonie Cooper criticised the Prime Minister for not delivering on her promise that Britain will not work ‘for a privileged few,
but for everyone’, and the Chancellor for not taking action in his first Autumn Statement.
New data from End Child Poverty reveals that a third of London Boroughs have seen a rise
in the number of children living in poverty. In Wandsworth, not only has there not been a reduction of children in child poverty across the borough, but the figure has actually seen an increase of 0.3 % since 2014.
End Child Poverty, a coalition of charities, faith groups and unions, is warning that the freeze to working age benefits, in place until the end of the decade, will mean that as prices rise, low income families will find it increasingly hard to pay for the same basic essentials.
Cuts to in work support, and a rise in the number of Londoners in low paid jobs, means that the number of people in a working family but living poverty has jumped by 70% over the past decade. According to the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR), Brexit could push inflation up to 4% by next year, meaning that the cost of food, clothing, fuel and rent will increase.
This comes as the number people in London turning to Trussell Trust foodbanks hit a record high. In 2015/16, 110,364 people received three-day emergency food supplies. Over 40,000 of these were children.
Labour London Assembly Member for Wandsworth, Leonie Cooper AM, said:
“These figures show that the Government have reneged on its Manifesto pledge of 2010
to ‘help families with all the pressure’s they face.’ Six years later, a higher percentage of Wandsworth’s children are living in poverty, and most are in households with people
in work.”
“Instead of doing everything they can to tackle poverty and disadvantage, the Government
are penalising the poorest by freezing benefits and cutting the support for those in work.”
Yours,
Leonie Cooper AM
Labour London Assembly Member for Merton and Wandsworth
LONDONASSEMBLYLABOUR
November 30, 2016
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