National child poverty figures rooted in government data sadly show progress has been going in the wrong direction in recent years, but perhaps more slowly than our day-to-day experiences would suggest.
There is no universally agreed upon measure of poverty and no single or common set of indicators to measure it in this country; that is to say for England, not Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, who are taking action here.
In children’s services, the number of local free school meal (FSM) claims can be used as a basic proxy for family distress and levels of need in our communities. FSM claims increased rapidly during the pandemic and this pattern continues to this day, with official data showing claims at the highest ever rate despite gaps in eligibility highlighted during Covid-19.
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