Around Half of Norwich Children in Low Income Households

5.19.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 7th Oct 2008

The Campaign to End Child Poverty has released figures which show that 51% of children in Norwich South constituency are living in low income households and 39% in Norwich North. Low income means that no-one is working more than 16 hours a week or the family is receiving the full amount of Working Tax Credit. The figures reveal that Norwich has one of the highest levels of child poverty in the East of England, behind only Peterborough, Luton and Great Yarmouth.

Simon Wright, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for Norwich South, said: "It's shameful that so many children in Norwich are growing up in poverty."

"The poorest households in Norwich are being hit time and time again by rising food prices, heating and electricity bills, and the cost of petrol. Yet the poorest households have been hit at the same time by rising taxes."

"The poorest households are paying more of their income in tax than the richest. It simply isn't fair. The Government needs to urgently look at ways of cutting tax for the poorest households, and make sure that tax credits are getting through to all families in need."

The Liberal Democrats would tackle child poverty by simplifying the tax credit system and focusing on the poorest families; increasing Child Benefit by around £5 for the first child making all families £250 a year better off, scrapping Council Tax and replacing it with a Local Income Tax; and cutting Income Tax to 16%.

In 1999 Tony Blair promised that Labour would "eradicate child poverty within a generation". But the Government is on course to miss their 2010 target by a staggering 1.1million children.

The Campaign to End Child Poverty is a coalition of more than 130 organisations, including Barnardo's, Unicef and the NSPCC. The coalition organised a march and rally at Trafalgar Square on Saturday calling on the Government to end child poverty.