Child poverty

Rates of child poverty vary widely between different local areas, according to a 'map' of poverty rates produced by the End Child Poverty campaign coalition.

The map shows child poverty rates by parliamentary constituency, local authority and ward. The data is for mid-2012, using a measure of child poverty as close as possible to that used by the government nationally.

The coalition needs to urgently review its approach to reducing child poverty, says a new report from the National Children's Bureau. The government should spend less time focusing on how child poverty is measured, it argues, and concentrate instead on practical lessons from other countries about what works best in tackling the problem.

Nearly 1 in 5 children who are living materially deprived lives – 2.3 million in total – are excluded from the government's headline measure of relative income poverty, according to a report from the Policy Exchange think tank. This, it says, is despite the £170 billion spent between 2003 and 2010 on financial support for the poorest households with children.

As many as nine out of ten people say children can be described as living in poverty if their parents are addicted to drugs or alcohol, according to an opinion survey carried out for the government. This is more than the proportion who say lack of money is a factor in child poverty.

The results come from a survey carried out in December 2012 by GfK NOP. 967 people were contacted by telephone. They were asked the question: 'Could you please tell me how important you think each of the following are when deciding whether someone is growing up in poverty?' (followed by a list of 12 options, of which people could pick up to four).