One In Five Children In NI Are Experiencing Poverty - Report

More than one in five children in NI are experiencing poverty, according to a report by Loughborough University for the End Child Poverty Coalition.

The report was based on the number of children who live in a household with a below 60% median income after housing costs are removed.

The statistics also revealed that 22.2% of children are experiencing poverty under this definition.

The figure rises to 28.5 per cent and 27.6 per cent in west Belfast and north Belfast respectively.

The End Child Poverty Coalition is calling for the two-child limit for those claiming Universal Credit to be scrapped, as evidence shows children with two or more siblings are more likely to be experiencing poverty.

A Northern Ireland Anti-Poverty Network (NIAPN) representative said: "The numbers of children in poverty across the UK is a massive indicator of a punitive and unjust social security system and wages that remain too low to pull the working poor out of poverty.

"We hope that MPs, MLAs and local councillors use this data to guide their anti-poverty policies and commit to a long overdue NI anti-poverty strategy."

The figures show that child poverty in Northern Ireland has seen a slight reduction year on year.

The study also identified Northern Ireland as the region with the lowest child poverty rate across the UK - which had an average of 29.2%.