Child poverty statistics and facts
There are currently 3.8 million children living in poverty in the UK. That’s almost a third of all children
These child poverty statistics and facts will help to give you an idea of the scale of child poverty in the UK and the affect it can have on:
- a child's education
- a child's health
- the day to day lives of families.
Does child poverty affect children's health?
- Baby boys born to parents with a professional job live almost 7 years longer than baby boys born to parents with a low-skilled job. That’s equivalent to an extra 13 years of life in good health.
Does poverty affect a child's education?
- By the age of six, a less able child from a rich family is likely to have overtaken a more able child from a poor family.
- Poor children are only a third as likely to get 5 GCSEs at A* to C than those from richer backgrounds.
How much money do families living in poverty have?
- Families living in poverty have less than £13 per day per person to buy everything they need such as food, heating, toys, clothes, electricity and transport.
How does poverty affect families?
- Over 90% of low income parents say they often go without to ensure their children have enough
- A quarter of children’s families in the bottom twenty percent of the income distribution, can’t afford to keep their house warm
- 58% of poor children have at least one parent in part or full-time work.
If you are going to eat healthy like the Government tells us, you have to spend a lot of money. But you can't go out and buy these salads and green vegetables living on £60 a week.
Find out more about Barnardo's child poverty research and publications or search Barnardo's database of child poverty publications and research >>