4,705 children in York are living in poverty

NEARLY 5,000 children in York are living in poverty according to new figures – and the number is set to rise.

City leaders are now drawing up a new action plan to help those in the “hotspots”.

City of York Council figures show about one in eight of the city’s children – 4,705 or 13 per cent – are in poverty, and although the city as a whole is better off than the national average of 21 per cent, Clifton, Westfield and Hull Road are all worse off.

The council is now working with YorkOk and York Without Walls to launch the City of York Child Poverty Strategy 2011- 2020, aimed at tackling the problem over the next decade.

Nick Woodall, of the Centre For Separated Families in York, said while child poverty could be higher in separated families, poverty could also lead to family breakdown in the first place.

He said: “The economic profile of York has changed – used to be a fairly industrial town.

“The loss of those kind of traditional jobs may have reduced the potential for people to take up the kind of work that may have lifted them out of poverty in the past.

“In a fairly high-cost place like York, the daily financial struggles of families are likely to be exacerbated.”

Full story: The Press