The Mirror reports that damning figures from the Department of Work and Pensions have revealed that 30% of all UK children were living in relative poverty in the year to March 2023.
The paper says that a record 4.3 million children are growing up in poverty as cost of living pressures pushed another 100,000 kids into hardship last year:
In a bleak picture of the state of the UK, the number of people living in absolute poverty rose for a second year to hit a 30-year high after energy bills rocketed in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Another 600,000 people - including 300,000 children - have been plunged into absolute poverty, meaning 12 million people fall 60% below the median income. Charities said the grim statistics must act as an "urgent wake up call" to the Tory Government, which has failed to protect the poorest people from hardship.
Food insecurity has also risen dramatically. Last year, 7.2million people struggled to get enough to eat, compared to 4.7million in 2021/22. Some 826,000 children live in households that have been forced to rely on food banks in the last year.
And the number of pensioners living in deprivation has risen to 8% - the highest level since 2016 and a 2% increase since before the pandemic. Real terms median household income also dropped by 1.5% last year to £545-a-week after housing costs.
These figures are a damning indictment of this government. I await the opposition's proposals to deal with the crisis.
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