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Four million children living in poverty as numbers rise, says report

Millions of children are in poverty

Children have had the highest poverty rate in the UK over the last 20 years, according to new research.

Four million children were living in poverty in 2017-18, up by 400,000 in the past five years.

Despite rising levels of employment, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's (JRF) State of the Nation report says in-work poverty has also gone up because often people's pay, hours, or both are not enough.

Fourteen million people across the UK currently live in poverty - 56% of them are in a working family, compared to 39% two decades ago.

Two million pensioners are also living in poverty, up by 300,000 over the past five years.

The report says there are regional differences in poverty rates, with the worst figures in London, the North, the Midlands and Wales.

The lowest rates are in the South (excluding London), Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Two major drivers of differences in poverty rates are the availability of good-quality jobs and housing costs.

The JRF says "levelling up" the country - a promise made by Boris Johnson - will require action on low earnings in places like the North East, which saw the largest increase (2.2%) on high housing costs.

Moses Zikusoka, 54, the son of a diplomat, grew up in Hampstead and worked for one of the world's biggest brands before he had three children.

Now, as a single-parent, Moses says he is trapped in poverty in a vicious cycle he cannot escape.

"It's a myth - there's no way that as a single parent you can do this on your own," he told Sky News.

"You have to have a support network, whatever the support network is, or else you will collapse, and you'll fail yourself and you'll fail your children."

Mr Zikusoka works in retail and says working full-time hours is simply not compatible with being a single-parent.

He said: "I went from part-time to full-time employment in the hope of moving my career on the managerial ladder.

"But the challenge was, you end up working longer hours, you earn more money, you have to pay more tax, you have to spend more on childcare, and you see less of your children.

"So the net result is you're actually worse off than when you started."

JRF executive director Claire Ainsley said: "The new government has an historic opportunity as we enter the 2020s.

"Past successes in recent decades show that it is possible for the UK to loosen the grip of poverty among those most at risk, but this progress has begun to unravel and it will take sustained effort across the country and throughout the governments of the UK to unlock poverty.

"It's not right that so many are unable to build a firm foundation to their lives because their jobs are insecure or they can't find a home they can afford. Without a better deal for working families, and a social security system that provides a public service for all of us, the UK faces further division and deeper poverty."

Frances O'Grady, general secretary of trade unions federation the TUC, said the government must crack down on business models "based on poverty pay and insecure jobs".

She has called for zero-hours contracts to be banned and an increase in the minimum wage to £10 an hour.

Becca Lyon, head of UK poverty campaigns at Save the Children, hit out at the controversial Universal Credit scheme, saying the social security system must be reformed and childcare support improved.

The Trussell Trust, which runs food banks across the UK, also criticised Universal Credit.

Chief executive Emma Revie said: "The findings from JRF's report today could not be clearer - for too many people it's becoming harder and harder to keep their heads above water.

"At food banks, we're seeing issues with our benefits system, like the five-week wait for Universal Credit and payments not covering the cost of living, pushing more people than ever before to food banks."

James Taylor, from the disability equality charity Scope, added: "These findings are shocking, but sadly will not be surprising to disabled people.

"Life costs much more for disabled people, on average £583 a month. At the same time, huge numbers of disabled people are denied the opportunity to get into and stay in work."

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: "Tackling poverty will always be a priority for this government.

"We know that getting into work is the best route out of poverty and there are more people in work than ever before. Wages are outstripping inflation and absolute poverty is lower than in 2010.

"We know that some need more help, which is why we spend over £95bn a year on working-age benefits.

"Millions will see their benefit payments rise further from April and we're also boosting the incomes of pensioners each year through the triple lock."