West Belfast Shows Second Highest Child Poverty In UK

West Belfast has the second highest level of child poverty in the UK, according to a new report by a children's poverty campaign.

The End Child Poverty campaign found that, out of the 650 UK parliamentary constituencies, only Manchester Central exhibited a higher level of deprivation.

43% of children grow up in poverty in west Belfast, according to the figures.

This signifies a fall of 3% from the previous year, but while rates fell significantly in other parts, this was not the case with west Belfast.

When the report took local authorities as its study basis, L'Derry and Belfast councils were placed fourth and fifth throughout the UK, with rates of child poverty at 35% and 34% respectively.

Out of Northern Ireland's constituencies, north Belfast and Foyle both rated 36%. West Tyrone rated 26% while Newry/Armagh and East L'Derry rated 23%.

East Antrim and Strangford rated 15%, while Lagan Valley rated 13%.

Barnardo's NI director, Lynda Wilson, described the statistics as "shocking".

She said it showed 100,000 children in Northern Ireland live in poverty.

"Behind today's statistics sit the most vulnerable children in society whose life chances risk being compromised by our failure to tackle child poverty effectively," she said.

"Barnardo's NI works day in and day out with families in the most deprived areas. The grim reality is that many families face vicious cycles of debt and impossible choices between heating homes or cooking hot meals for their children.

"While the Northern Ireland Executive has already undertaken steps to address child poverty with the introduction of a Child Poverty Strategy there needs to be further emphasis on literacy, numeracy and early intervention to address educational underachievement and the introduction of a Child Care Strategy to help families facing financial hardship."

(IT)