Children in Greater Manchester experience some of the highest rates of poverty in the UK, a new national report has found.
The Social Mobility Commission’s yearly findings highlighted that Greater Manchester is one of the seven hotspots for child poverty in the UK.
The report said Greater Manchester has some of the worst 20% of postcodes for child poverty. The city region also so ranked poorly for ‘promising prospects’, a measure of young people’s educational and professional opportunities.
Featuring a geographical breakdown for the first time, the annual report said: “It is worrying that social mobility outcomes not only depend on who your parents are, your education, and your skills, but also where you grew up.”
Graham Whitham, CEO of Greater Manchester Poverty Action said: “While these new findings are shocking, they are sadly not surprising.
“Child poverty rates have been rising in Greater Manchester for a number of years, and government failure to adequately support people means they will only continue to rise – particularly as the cost-of-living crisis continues to squeeze household incomes across the country.
“The UK government has no plan or strategy to address poverty. We need to see real policy change that protects and supports our poorest households.”
He believes one way to do this would be to scrap the two-child limit on benefits, as he said this policy means that almost all families having a third or subsequent child are no longer entitled to receive support for those children through Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit.
He added: “The two-child limit is having an extremely damaging effect in Greater Manchester, with recent research indicating that by 2022, 89,270 babies and children in the city-region were directly impacted by this policy. Abolishing the two-child limit would immediately lift 250,000 children out of poverty across the country and help our children to thrive.
“It forces parents into horrible choices and denies families the support they need from our social security system.
The commission also showed Greater Manchester trailed behind London in regards to educational progression for children receiving free school meals, with the capital’s children more likely to receive grade 5’s in Maths and English GCSE.
However, the region comes out on top in the North. The North West boasts the highest levels of first generation students to higher education in the North. Greater Manchester also has good levels of socio-cultural advantage as well as research and development opportunities.
Manchester City Council have been approached for comment.
Main image: © Luke Pennystan and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. Via Unsplash.
