NECPC publishes new child poverty report

Author: Amy Coates
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A major new report has been published by the North East Child Poverty Commission (NECPC) calling for regional leaders to take a 'public health approach' to tackling child poverty, based on the findings of their latest research. 

Over the last year, NECPC has collected and analysed wide-ranging research from cross-sector organisations, parents, carers and young people across the region. 

The findings are stark, showing that:

  • The intensity of child poverty in the North East is getting worse, with one in five (over 100,000) of all children now living below the deep poverty line. More than one in ten are living in 'very deep poverty'. 
  • Almost one in five children are living in households that are 'food insecure'. 
  • The proportion of children in poverty that are from working families has risen from 56% to 67%.

There is a collective agreement across those who took part in the research that tackling child poverty must be a regional priority. With that in mind, the report sets out a blueprint for what 'an ambitious, solutions-focussed programme of coordinated, cross-sector regional action to tackle child poverty' could look like, grounded in findings from the NECPC research. 

The blueprint for regional action identifies four strategic priorities:

  • Maximising family incomes now
  • Making work a route out of poverty
  • Supporting the best start in life for the next generation
  • Securing a region-wide anti-poverty commitment

A full copy of ‘No time to wait: An ambitious blueprint for tackling child poverty in the North East’ is available here.

An executive summary of the report's key findings and recommendations is also available here.