Almost 20% of children in Herefordshire are living in relative poverty, with the situation expected to get worse when the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and recent cost of living crisis are included in the figures.
Many families across the county are already struggling with the cost of living, but increased energy, fuel and food costs are likely to make this a problem that affects many more households across Herefordshire.
Data released by the UK Parliament (House of Commons Library) shows that in 2019/20, an estimated 14% of children aged 0-15 years-old in Herefordshire were living in absolute poverty (people in absolute low income – living in households with income below 60% of (inflation-adjusted) median income in some base year, usually 2010/11).
The picture is bleak across the whole county, with both North Herefordshire and Hereford & Herefordshire South seeing the same percentage of children in absolute poverty.
In total, in Hereford & Herefordshire South 3,185 (18%) of children aged 0-15 years-old are living in relative poverty (people in relative low income – living in households with income below 60% of the median in that year), in comparison to 2,454 (17%) of children the same age in Herefordshire North.
Data shows that in 2019/20, a total of 4,449 children aged 0-15 years-old in Herefordshire are described as living in absolute poverty. This is a number that will shock many, especially with things likely to have got worse due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis that is now hitting so many households across the country due to rising energy and food costs.
Overall, levels of relative low income have been fairly steady over the past few years, but this varies between population groups: the proportion of children and pensioners in relative low income is higher than it was five years ago. The share of people in absolute low income has also remained reasonably stable over the last five years. This indicates that both living standards for the poorest households and the gap between them, and middle-income households has remained about the same.
In the United Kingdom, on average 19% of children are described as living in relative poverty, with 16% of children described as living in absolute poverty.
The full report can be found by visiting – Poverty in the UK: statistics – House of Commons Library (parliament.uk)
