Local indicators of child poverty after housing costs, 2023/24

Local indicators of child poverty after housing costs, 2023/24: estimates of child poverty after housing costs in parliamentary constituencies and local authorities

Summary: This report summarises findings for the latest update to the Local Indicators of Child Poverty After Housing Costs statistics produced by the Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough University, for the End Child Poverty Coalition. The data build upon the Children in Low Income Families data produced by the Department for Work and Pensions, which show the rate of child poverty before housing costs in local areas. Using local administrative data and analysis of the household survey Understanding Society, we produced modelled estimates that account for housing costs, thereby providing a more accurate picture of how disposable incomes vary in different geographical areas.

Key findings:

• In 2023/24 national analysis indicates that 4.5 million children (31% of all children) were in relative poverty, and the poverty rate also remains high across the nations and regions.

• Devolved polices such as the Scottish Child Payment have contributed to overall lower levels of poverty across Scotland, as compared to the rest of the UK, although more than one in five children remain in poverty.

• In two-thirds of constituencies, at least one in four children are in relative poverty after housing costs.

• There is widespread inequality in the rate of child poverty within the countries and regions of the UK.

• Constituency-level child poverty rates are directly and strongly correlated with the percentage of children affected by the two-child limit in that local area, providing further evidence that the policy is a key driver of child poverty.