London children are poorest in the UK

More than half of inner London children live below the poverty
line, a new report for London Mayor Ken Livingstone reveals.

The report finds that 53 per cent of children in Kensington,
Chelsea, Westminster, the City, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Newham,
Lambeth and Southwark suffer deprivation, compared with 33 per cent
in more affluent outer boroughs.

It says shows that child poverty in inner London is the worst of
any region in Britain, and that the rate is highest among ethnic
minority groups, with nearly three out of four Pakistani and
Bangladeshi children in the inner city living in poverty.

Meanwhile the Scottish executive has been accused of “moving the
goalposts” following a report suggesting child poverty has fallen
dramatically in Scotland over the last six years.

Statistics released by the executive show that 21 per cent of
children in Scotland were living in absolute poverty in 2000-1,
compared with 34 per cent in 1996-7 when Labour took office.

But the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland said the executive
had changed the way the statistics were normally compiled by
measuring absolute poverty instead of calculating the proportion of
people living in households where income after housing costs was no
more than 60 per cent of the national average. 

– London Divided – Income Inequality and Poverty in the
Capital from www.london.gov.uk  Scottish
executive figures from www.scotland.gov.uk