Child Poverty Rises, While Incomes Fall in Poor UK Households

Child poverty in Britain is projected to have increased in 2017 by around three percent, growing 11 percent since 2011, due to the sheer number of children living in poverty, despite their parents or carers working.

Research carried out for the Living Standards Audit 2018 suggests child poverty has been rising twice as fast as official figures show; increasing by 21 percent between 2011 and 2016 rather than 11 percent because "the impact of benefit cuts are understated."

The money coming into households on higher salaries grew even slower and disposable incomes, the money left over after all the bills are paid, dropped by 0.3 percent in the poorest households.

"Reducing child poverty has been a goal of politicians from all parties in recent decades. But our analysis shows that child poverty is likely to have risen last year, and that rises since 2010 have been underestimated in official government data," Adam Corlett, senior economic analyst at Resolution said in a statement.

READ MORE: Hidden Figures: Despite Falling Unemployment in the UK, Poverty High and Rising

The foundation is calling for the British government to urgently review its plans to reduce benefit payments under its new Universal Credit system if it is serious in reversing the increase in child poverty in Britain.

"Alongside the national Brexit debate — the country needs a new conversation about what level of relative poverty we want and what we intend to do about it," the report says.

The analysis carried out by the think tanks suggests the government had been more successful than previously thought in reducing poverty by backing policies with the budget needed to implement them.

"In contrast, our nowcast suggests 2017-18 was a strikingly bad year for lower income households as the 2015 package of benefit cuts began in earnest, in combination with high inflation," the report states.

READ MORE: Half of Children in Areas of the UK Growing Up Poor, Study Shows