Report reveals shocking toll of Rotherham child poverty

Rotherham Council has warned that more hardship could be on the way as figures from the End Child Poverty Campaign show that1 per cent of the borough’s youngsters are severely deprived.

Children are classified as being in poverty if they live in families receiving out-of-work benefits or in-work tax credits where their reported income is less than 60 per cent of the UK’s median income  around £26,500 per year .

The figures, based on estimates for mid-2012, also show Rother Valley has a 16 per cent child poverty rate (3,197 children) and Wentworth and Dearne 22 per cent (4,722 children).

A council spokesman said: “Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, among others, shows the Government’s welfare reforms are likely to cause a significant increase in child poverty across the country over the next few years,” she said.

“In Rotherham, the council and other agencies are continuing to work together to provide intensive support to struggling families.  

“Targeted work is also underway, as part of our Health and Wellbeing Strategy, to alleviate poverty in the borough’s most disadvantaged areas.  

“On welfare reform, we have applied for the Government’s transitional grant which, together with other measures taken by the council, will help us to minimise the impact on our poorest families.  

“No-one currently in receipt of full council tax benefit will have to pay more than 8.5 per cent of their council tax bill in 2013/14.

“Rotherham Partnership has been actively raising awareness of welfare reform amongst front line staff, particularly those in schools and children’s centres. We have also distributed thousands of leaflets to help low income families deal with benefit changes.”

In parts of London and Birmingham, the proportion in poverty is over 70 per cent.

Research by Save the Children shows that nationally well over half of parents in poverty say they have cut back on food and over a quarter say they have skipped meals in the past year.

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