Children in low income families

The headline measure of child poverty. Details of relative child poverty within the North East before and after housing costs, and of further measures relating to this topic area.

Poverty and deprivation Child poverty
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Introduction

This report provides local area information about children in the North East who live in families in relative poverty. Such families have household income below 60% of the UK median. The report is presented in sections:

  • After housing costs (AHC) statistics, produced by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, based on a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) dataset sourced from administrative tax and benefit records.
  • Before housing costs (BHC) statistics,  the DWP analysis of the same dataset
  • Additional child poverty data for the wider North East ITL1 region (which also includes Tees Valley), from the survey-based Households Below Average Income (HBAI) dataset
  • Additional insights into the characteristics and geography of children in BHC poverty based on DWP data from the Stat-Xplore tool.

Rates in this report are shown to the nearest 0.1%. The latest year that statistics are available for is 2023/24 with the next release due in spring 2026. Further information about the data is included in the "About the sources" section.


Child poverty (after housing costs)

120,600

dependent children in relative poverty, after housing costs

North East CA (combined authority)
area, 2023/24 financial year.
Includes dependent 16 to 19 year olds.
2,500 higher than in 2022/23.

30.1%

North East child poverty rate, after housing costs

2023/24, up from 29.8% in 2022/23,
lower than recent peak
(38.3% in 2020/21),
slightly lower than UK rate (30.5%).

median

rate among 15 comparable areas

8th lowest among the 15
English combined authority areas,
5th lowest of the 12
in the north and midlands.

35.2%

Newcastle child poverty rate, after housing costs

highest of the seven
North East local authority areas,
lowest rate: Northumberland, 25.6%.


Child poverty (before housing costs)

94,000

children aged 0 to 15 in relative poverty, before housing costs

North East CA area, 2023/24,
2,850 higher than in 2022/23.
Headline DWP totals and rates
exclude dependent 16 to 19 year olds.

27.5%

North East 0 to 15 poverty rate, before housing costs

2023/24, up from 26.8% in 2022/23,
highest rate in the ten year time series,
higher than UK rate (21.8%).

30.5%

Newcastle 0 to 15 poverty rate, before housing costs

highest of the seven North East
local authority areas,
lowest rate: North Tyneside 21.6%.

21,600

additional dependent 16 to 19-year olds in poverty

BHC, North East CA area, 2023/24.
dependent child (0-19) poverty rate:
28.9%, higher than UK rate (23.2%),
highest rate in ten year time series.

 


Additional regional data

9%

of North East children in very deep poverty

North East ITL1 region
2021/22-2023/24,
in households with income
<40% of the median.
18% in deep poverty (<50% of the median).

+4.8pp

ten year increase in the relative child poverty rate (AHC)

change in percentage points,
North East ITL1 region.
Contrasts with a 7.3pp decrease
in the previous decade.

+14.5pp

child poverty rate compared to pensioner poverty rate

North East ITL1 region (21/22-23/24).
child poverty rate also higher than
working age poverty rate (by 10.8pp).

29.4%

of North East children in the 20% lowest income households

North East ITL1 region (21/22-23/24).
Above the working age equivalent (18.8%)
and the % of pensioners (13.8%),
slightly above the UK equivalent (28.9%).


Additional local detail (BHC)

64%

of North East children in poverty live in working families

North East CA area, 2023/24 (UK 69%).
59% in single parent families (UK 53%),
53% aged under 11 (UK 51%),
19% dependent children aged 16-19 (UK 20%).

+24,500

five year growth of single parent family child poverty

North East CA area, 2018/19 to 2023/24,
equivalent to a 57% increase.
2% decrease for children in couple families.
+24% for children in working families,
+28% for children in non-working families

58.6%

child poverty rate in Elswick ward, Newcastle (BHC)

Highest North East ward rate (2023/24).
24 North East wards with rates above 41%.
Half of these in Northumberland or
Newcastle; none in North Tyneside.

30.3%

median ward-level child poverty rate in Newcastle

highest among North East LA areas.
Lowest: North Tyneside (19.9%),
with every ward rate <40%.
Second lowest: Northumberland (20.7%)
despite seven wards with rates >41%.


About the sources

Each year the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publishes official local area statistics on the number and percentage of children living in relative low income families. These families have net equivalised disposable household income below 60% of median income, widely used to define relative poverty.

The DWP release, at present, focuses only on income before housing costs (BHC). The Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University has developed parallel after housing costs (AHC) local area statistics, published annually by the End Child Poverty Coalition.  The DWP aims to include an AHC measure in future releases.

The two sets of statistics both define children as individuals aged under 16 or aged 16 to 19 in full-time non-advanced education (with the latter sometimes described as "dependents"). However, headline BHC child poverty rates from DWP are only for children under 16 due to the complexity in identifying 16 to 19 year old child dependents in the population estimates. The AHC dataset does include an estimate of this cohort and, therefore, has rates for children including dependents aged 16 to 19.

The DWP BHC data includes total numbers of children in relative poverty, including dependents aged 16 to 19. This is despite not publishing the related rates. For some charts we have calculated these using the cohort in the Loughborough University data as a denominator.

The annual dataset "Households Below Average Income" (HBAI) is cited by the DWP as the UK’s primary source of poverty estimates and, because of its sample size, the main source on household incomes. There are no local statistics from this source but there is survey-based information for the North East ITL1 region, which includes the North East and Tees Valley combined authority areas.

Key outputs derived from HBAI data include measures of deep poverty, longer term trends, and information about households in absolute low income. The latter have net equivalised disposable household income below 60% of median income for the 2010/11 financial year (adjusted for inflation).


Related links

Local child poverty data (after housing costs)

The latest after housing costs (AHC) local area child poverty statistics from the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University via the End Child Poverty Coalition.

Local child poverty data (before housing costs)

The DWP annual before housing costs (BHC) release "Children in low income families: local area statistics". 

Poverty statistics for wider (ITL1) regions

The annual DWP households below average income (HBAI) statistics for the UK and its 12 ITL1 regions.