[UK] "Shockingly high" child poverty in London

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A new city-wide campaign in London is being aimed at the "shockingly high rates" of child poverty in the capital.

Despite recent Government initiatives in recent years to reduce poverty levels across the UK there appears to have been little progress within London as 41% of all children in the capital are living in poverty - once housing costs are taken into account - compared to 28 per cent across the rest of Britain.

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone and the Association of London Government have today launched a new commission aimed at tackling the issue.

The London Child Poverty Commission is aimed at increasing understanding of the causes of London's high child poverty rates and will identify policies at national and local levels that could reduce poverty, as well as identifying ways of breaking the cycle of deprivation.

Chair of the Commission, Carey Oppenheim, wants to work with central, regional and local government to tackle child poverty in the capital.

"London is a world city, thriving and prosperous – but its prosperity masks shockingly high rates of child poverty.

"We want to make a once and for all difference to the life chances of this generation and future generations of children in London."

Ken Livingstone stated that poverty across the capital was "no longer tolerable".

"This independent commission will work with all levels of government to identify the policies needed to ensure that all of London's children get a fair start in life."

Responding to the launch today of the London Child Poverty Commission, Adam Sampson, Director of Shelter, sees housing provision as the top priority.

"We all know how crippling housing costs are in the capital. Now that the Government has changed the rules so that child poverty is measured before housing costs are taken into account, it's vital that these children are still counted under any new system put in place.

"Tackling London's housing crisis is a vital first step to reducing the capital's shocking rates of child poverty. As housing costs have rocketed, it's those at the very bottom of the housing ladder who are left to suffer in unfit, overcrowded or emergency housing.

"In the long term, the only way to tackle the link between poverty and housing is to build more homes for those that need them. Shelter is calling on the Government to build 16,000 more social rented homes in London between 2008 -2011, which we estimate could lift 42,500 of the capital's poorest children out of bad housing."

Shelter believes everyone should have a home and helps 100,000 people a year fight for their rights, get back on their feet, and find and keep a home, and launched the Million Children Campaign in April 2004 aimed at getting the Government to commit to ending bad housing for the next generation of children.

Shelter today re-iterated their belief that poor housing robs children of their health, education and a fair chance in life.