Regional living costs must be considered in fight against child poverty

21 May 2010 1 min read Early Years

The government has been urged to take regional living costs into account when tackling child poverty, after a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) showed London has the highest child poverty rates in the UK.

The report, Poverty and Inequality in the UK: 2010, was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. It is based on Housing Below Average Income figures, released by the government yesterday. But the IFS report analyses child poverty based on regional living costs, as opposed to the government figures which are based on UK-wide statistics.

Ali Muriel, a senior research economist at the IFS, said the difference in regional living costs could have serious repercussions on the way the government targets child poverty measures.

"London is the region with the highest child poverty rate when you take into account the high cost of living there. But it is much further down the table if you do not," Muriel told CYP Now. "If you are targeting your resources somewhere, then it really makes a difference when you take into account the cost of living."

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