5.5m UK children on poverty line claim

THOUSANDS of children across Oldham are living on the breadline, according to a poverty action group.

The Campaign to End Child Poverty says 174 of the 646 parliamentary constituencies in the UK have at least half of their child population on, or close to, the poverty line.

A breakdown for Oldham’s two seats reveals there are 29,470 youngsters living in low-income households where parents are struggling.

In Oldham East there are 12,330 (half of all children) and 17,140 (64 per cent) in Oldham West.

The Campaign to End Child Poverty is a coalition of more than 130 organisations including Barnardo’s, Unicef and the NSPCC.

According to its research, there are 5.5 million children in Britain living in low-income families, even though the UK is the fifth richest nation in the world.

Chairman Martin Narey said: “Pockets of our country are in turmoil. These figures show there are millions more children than originally thought being failed by the system.”

Phil Woolas, the MP for Oldham East, said: “The definition of poverty that we use is compared with other people. It is relative, not absolute, because we believe in fairness.

“It is a tough hurdle to jump but it is right that we pose that challenge.”

A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said the Government was committed to the cause.

She said: “We have lifted 600,000 children out of poverty; we are introducing free nursery education for all two, three and four-year-olds; and have seen an increase in educational outcomes at all ages.”

The report’s figures are made up from child tax credit and working tax credit data, and have been calculated by the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion.

Elwyn Watkins, the Lib-Dems’ parliamentary spokesman for Oldham East, said: “Labour came to power promising to lift children out of poverty and it is distressingly clear that it has failed.

“It is an absolute shame on our country that we can allow this to happen in the 21st century.”