The latest child poverty statistics have been published today by the government.
The figures show a slight improvement, with the percentage of children in the UK living in poverty decreasing by 3% to 27%. However, some of this decrease is attributable to the way the figures have been calculated.
Lynn Perry, Barnardo’s chief executive, said:
“The numbers may have changed, but the reality of living in poverty has not - a child living in poverty yesterday is still a child living in poverty today. Every day, we see children in our services who don’t have access to essentials like food, warm clothing, or a bed of their own, which has serious effects on their outcomes in life. We must not lose sight that child poverty has risen in recent years.
“Barnardo’s welcomes efforts to improve the accuracy of child poverty data, but what matters most is that this leads to better outcomes for the millions of children living in poverty. It is vital that these revised numbers do nothing to change the urgency of tackling child poverty – and that we continue to work together as a society to make sure every child is given the best start in life.”