Nearly half of Londoners don’t realise how bad child poverty actually is: ‘Deeply concerning’

Only one in 10 Londoners know how many children are living in poverty in the city, new research has found.

There are 700,000 children living in poverty in London. That’s one in three.

But the Childhood Trust, London’s leading child poverty charity, has revealed just 13.5% of people in the capital can accurately estimate how many kids are in poverty.

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Meanwhile, nearly half (45%) of people living in London believe the extent of child poverty is less than the true figure.

The figures have been released in line with London Challenge Poverty Week which aims to spotlight the growing crisis of child poverty in the city, and the need for change.

Neha Mahendru, interim chief executive of the Childhood Trust, said: “We are deeply concerned at the results of our latest survey, which has uncovered a shocking lack of awareness of child poverty in London in 2024.

“We know that there are 700,000 children (33%) living below the poverty line in our city, but it is clear that this message is not reaching the general public, with almost half unaware of the true extent of the issue.”

The Childhood Trust also found that half of high earning Londoners (£75,000 a year plus) believe that the city is safe for children and young people, compared to just a quarter of those earning under £15,000 a year who agreed.

Three in five (57%) of London’s high earners also believe that London is a place where all children and young people can succeed.

According to The Childhood Trust, this disparity in opinion may highlight the inequalities in access to education, employment opportunities and safe spaces for poorer families in London.

The research also revealed the difference in views between London boroughs.

Tower Hamlets has had the highest rate of child poverty for many years, but 68% of residents believe the extent is lower than it is. Just a quarter (24%) of residents also believe the borough is a welcoming and safe place for children.

Jonathan Pauling, chief executive of Alexandra Rose Charity in Tower Hamlets, said: “We all know that the food we eat plays a vital role in our health, but sadly, at Alexandra Rose Charity, we see firsthand the struggles families living in Tower Hamlets face putting healthy food on the table.”

This is compared to the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, a borough with the highest levels of wealth in London, where just over half of residents are unaware of the extent of child poverty within the borough.

Rebecca Bryce, area manager at AllChild, said: “Kensington and Chelsea has the widest economic divide of all the areas in which we work. In our borough some of the richest and poorest in our society live side-by-side.

“These communities often feel that their needs are ignored because it is undesirable to the wealthy residents for them to be surfaced or addressed.”

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