Regional living costs must be considered in fight against child poverty

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."

According to the IFS, London has a child poverty rate of 22 per cent based on national prices, equivalent to the national average. But based on regional costs London's child poverty rate rises to 28 per cent.

After London, the research suggests that Northern Ireland has the highest UK child poverty rate. It is lowest in Scotland and the East of England. The IFS research calculates child poverty rates based on a period of three years between 2006 and 2009.  Regional living costs were calculated by IFS using previous Family Resource survey findings and ONS regional price indices.