NEW data has shown that 30 per cent of children in North and West Belfast are living in poverty.
The new data shows that one in every ten children across the North, amounting to 45,000 children are affected by the two child benefit cap which limits benefits to a family's first two children.
The figures were gathered by the End Child Poverty Coalition, which the Northern Ireland Anti-Poverty Network and Save the Children are part of. The data shows that 28.5 per cent of children in West Belfast live in poverty, with the figure 27.5 per cent in North Belfast.
I was at Stormont today highlighting the urgent need for an anti-poverty strategy.
It is shocking that 1 in 6 people in the North right now are facing hunger and over a 1/4 of children here in West Belfast are living in a household that struggle to meet their basic needs. pic.twitter.com/2ganZHfr3h— Paul Doherty (@PaulDoherty___) June 28, 2023
The majority of families living in poverty include those with at least one parent in work, or a parent who is disabled or a carer for another family member.
This autumn the Department for Communities published a report that revealed that 68,000 children across the North are living in absolute poverty.
The British government's cap on child benefits affects families entitled to benefits who have had a third or subsequent child born after 6 April 2017. These parents are denied £3,235 per year per child compared with families who had a third or more children born before April 2017.
BENEFIT CAPS: Children poverty figures are high in West and North Belfast
Save the Children’s Policy and Public Affairs Adviser Naomi McBurney said: “It is completely unacceptable in 2023 that any child is living in poverty, let alone nearly a quarter of children. The two-child limit is unjust and unethical.
“We know that the public in Northern Ireland agrees. Our recent poll found that 64 per cent of people believe that the two-child limit is unfair or very unfair. The government does not limit education or access to the NHS to the first two children in a family, so it certainly should not apply to the child payment for Universal Credit or Tax Credits.”
Jeremy Corbyn struck a chord with the west Belfast festival, when he spoke about child poverty as a direct result of the two child limit on social security. https://t.co/yDumCe2UdM
— Mac (@lighten1) August 4, 2023
West Belfast People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said the British government policy had condemned areas such as West Belfast to a life of deprivation.
“The Tories allow their rich friends to hoard wealth, to avoid tax, and to exploit people without any qualms. They then peddle the lie that the poor are the drain on society.
“People Before Profit vociferously opposed the raft of Tory-designed welfare reforms that were endorsed by the DUP, Sinn Féin, and Alliance Party locally. Communities across the North are clearly still feeling the harsh impact of those political decisions.
“The 4,020 children in West Belfast who are impacted by the two-child policy are 4,020 more reasons to fight the Tories. Now is the time to reaffirm our determination to see welfare reforms like the two-child policy completely scrapped.”
