More than one in five children in Oxford are living in poverty, according to new figures.
The national study, commissioned by Campaign to End Child Poverty, shows that 22 per cent of children in Oxford are classed as being below the breadline. Oxford has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the south east, ranking alongside Slough and Swale. The city is topped only by Portsmouth, where 24 per cent of children live in poverty, and Southampton, which has the highest rate at 26 per cent.
The findings of the study, which measured family income, are represented on a map showing child poverty levels across the country by local authority area. The study shows that Tower Hamlets has the highest rate in the country, with 52 per cent of children living in poverty.
Prime Minister David Cameron’s constituency of Witney has one of the lowest levels of child poverty in the south east, at only seven per cent. Cllr Van Coulter, ward member for Barton and Sandhills, said: “There are pockets of deprivation in Oxford, there are ghettos in areas like Barton and Blackbird Leys. Parents who have no qualifications often raise children who end up with no qualifications.
“There is the problem of unemployment and young people who are not in employment, education or training living in areas of social deprivation. Housing costs are very high in Oxford and often take up more than half of people’s salaries, making it difficult for people to move out of these areas.”
The city council will help address the issue of child poverty by channelling more resources into improving educational provisions in schools, Cllr Coulter said. The Campaign to End Child Poverty is supported by 150 organisations, including children’s charities, unions, faith groups and civic society organisations, working together to rally public and political support in order to reach their goal of ending child poverty by 2020.
Gill Tishley, Oxford director of Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), which is supporting the campaign, said: “Oxford CAB advised clients on over 13,000 different issues between April and December 2011. Just over half of those issues concerned debt or benefits and tax credits.
“The majority of those who come to us for advice are facing disadvantage, live on low incomes or benefits and have to deal with multiple forms of inequality and exclusion. One third of our clients have dependent children. The pressures on household budgets are increasing and the knock-on effect on children is very worrying.”
Charities such as Thrive are currently supporting disadvantage young people in Barton with allotment projects, youth centres and cooking projects. Judy Elliott, team leader for Thrive, said: “In Oxford there is a great deal of separation. There are affluent areas and areas with high deprivation. There are high levels of poverty in areas like Barton and Blackbird Leys, areas on the outskirts that are often overlooked.”
