Child poverty shame

ALMOST four in 10 children in Oldham West and Royton are living in poverty, says a new report.

The Campaign to End Child Poverty has published new figures to show areas with the highest and lowest rates of child poverty.

In the North-West, Manchester Central has the highest number - 44 per cent - of children living in poverty, while Oldham West and Royton joins Liverpool Riverside on 38 per cent.

Wyre and Preston North (12 per cent) and Westmorland and Lonsdale (13 per cent) have the lowest rates in the region.

At local authority level Oldham is the 20th-worst council in the country.

Chair of the campaign David Holmes said: “These figures reveal just how widely and deeply child poverty reaches into our communities. Failing to invest properly in children is a false economy: already child poverty costs the UK £29bn each year and in the long run, taxpayers will foot an even higher bill for correcting the damage.”