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A report has placed Teesside as worst for the number of children in the North East growing up in poverty. The statistics reveal that 52% of children in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East are

living in poverty - making it the worst in the region. Campaigners and local charities are pressing the Government to turn pledges on child poverty into real action for North East children,

following the findings of the new research published on Monday, June 2. Last summer, the Government established a Ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce – committing to deliver 'an

ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start at life'. However, a national plan has not been released. Today's new

analysis – carried out for the End Child Poverty coalition by Loughborough University – highlights how high rates of child poverty increasingly impact almost all parts of the North East. It

finds that: * Two thirds of the region's constituencies have a child poverty rate at or higher than the UK average of 31%. This compares with 42% of all constituencies across the UK. *

More than half (52%) of all children in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East are growing up in poverty, followed by 43% of all children in Newcastle Central and West. The 10 constituencies with

the highest child poverty rates in the North East in 2023/24, according to the report, are: * Middlesbrough and Thornaby East (52%) * Newcastle Central and West (43%) * Easington (33%) *

Bishop Auckland (33%) * Blyth and Ashington (33%) * Stockton North (33%) * South Shields (33%) * Newcastle East and Wallsend (32%) * Redcar (32%) * Gateshead Central and Whickham (32%) The

End Child Poverty Coalition says the report illustrates how child poverty rates in constituencies across the country – including in the North East – are "directly and strongly

correlated" with the percentage of children in the area living in families affected by the two-child limit policy in Universal Credit. Since its introduction in April 2017, the

two-child limit has meant that almost all families having a third or subsequent child are no longer entitled to receive support for those children through Universal Credit. Around 60% of

families hit by the two-child limit across the country are in work. In Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, more than one in five children (22%) are living in a family impacted by the two-child

limit. In the Stockton West constituency – which the report finds has the lowest child poverty rate in the North East – just over 5% of children growing up in the area are affected by the

policy. In a recent submission to the Government’s taskforce, the North East Child Poverty Commission urged ministers to prioritise scrapping the two-child limit in the new national child

poverty strategy. Four End Child Poverty coalition members based in the North East have responded to the report's findings, including manager of Thrive Teesside, Tracey Herrington. She

said: "Year on year, we bear witness to the rising numbers of children being pulled into poverty through no fault of their own and consequently subjected to the lifelong impact of this.

Unable to realise their full potential, participate in activities that enable them to enjoy life, grow and flourish and increasingly becoming worried about what the future holds for them.

"This is no longer about failed policies, but policies – like the two-child limit – that are actively causing damage, hardship, and even destitution. Every child has the right to

realise their potential, because every child matters. By working together and collectively addressing the issues that continue to keep our young people trapped in a life of poverty, positive

change can happen. "This is all of our responsibility – but the Government has the power to make the biggest difference, and it must seize the opportunity of the new strategy to do

that." The End Child Poverty Coalition is made up of over 130 organisations, including children’s charities, child welfare groups, social justice groups, faith groups, trade unions and

others, united in a vision of a UK free of child poverty. A government spokesperson said: "We are determined to bring down child poverty. We've already expanded free breakfast

clubs, introduced a cap on the cost of school uniforms, increased the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes, uprated benefits in April and supported 700,000 of the poorest

families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions. "We will publish an ambitious child poverty strategy later this year to ensure we deliver fully-funded

measures that tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty across the country." Middlesbrough & Thornaby East MP Andy McDonald said: “The evidence is clear that the single

most effective measure to lift hundreds of thousands of children out of relative poverty would be to abolish the 2 child welfare cap. The sooner that happens the better. "It is also

essential that when the Child Poverty Taskforce completes its work that there is a laser like focus on the locations with the highest levels of poverty.” FOR TEESSIDE UPDATES AND BREAKING

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