Nearly one million children in England are living in overcrowded housing leading to the spread of infections and the break-up of families, according to homelessness charity Shelter, writes Shirley Kumar.
 
Launching its report, Crowded House, to highlight the plight of an estimated one in 10 children, Shelter urged the government to build more family-size homes to get low - income families out of the poverty trap.
 
The worst affected areas are in London where almost one in three children live in cramped social housing provided by housing associations or councils.  Black and minority ethnic families are also six times more likely to be living in overcrowded housing than white households.

N Report from  www.shelter.org.uk