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UK cities

Child poverty in UK cities

Percentage of children living in relative poverty - selected UK cities - 2014/2015-2022/2023

This chart compares child poverty rates, after housing costs have been accounted for, for twelve cities across the UK. It includes eight cities from England, one each from Northern Ireland and Wales, and two from Scotland.

The highest child poverty rates in 2022/2023 were in Birmingham and Manchester, where 46% and 44% of children were living in poverty. 

Glasgow, with a child poverty rate of 33% in 2022/2023 has a rate lower than most of the English cities shown, but slightly higher than that of Leeds 30% and Sheffield 32%. Cardiff at 29%, Belfast 27% and Edinburgh 20% are all lower than Glasgow. 

The pattern of rates lowering in 2020/2021 seen in the Scottish cities and GCR charts is not evident in the English and Welsh cities, five of which saw either a rise or a stalling in rates between 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. In four of the cities, Newcastle, Leeds, Cardiff and Belfast, there was a decrease in child poverty between 2020/2021 and 2021/2022. 

End Child Poverty discussed the reasons behind child poverty trends across the UK in their report and press releases. They noted that the figures did not yet cover the full roll-out of the Scottish Child Payment, but that modelling suggests that it has had a positive impact on families. They drew attention to the impacts of the two-child benefit cap, showing correltation between the number of children affected by this cap and levels of child poverty. Their press release for Scotland lists the parliamentary constiuencies with the highest levels of child poverty in Scotland – the top six constiuencies are all in Glasgow. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, median household income decreased, and so did the overall proportion of people living in relative poverty. The amount paid to households receiving Universal Credit was also raised by £20 per week between April 2020 and October 2021, and figures for 2020/2021 cover the period of this temporary uplift. End Child Poverty noted that experts believe this may be part of the reason why some areas of the UK saw a fall in child poverty.

Notes

The data for this graph come from End Child Poverty. Households are defined as living in poverty if their income is less than 60% of the UK median income. The methods of estimation have recently been updated, further detail can be found on the website.

These figures refer to children aged 0-16 and to families living in poverty after housing costs are taken into account. 

This section was last updated in December 2024.

Further reading under ‘Children in poverty’