MORE than 3,500 children in Ceredigion are estimated to be living in poverty, newly published figures have revealed.

The End Child Poverty coalition, in its new Child Poverty Map of the UK, estimates that 28.86 per cent of children in the county, amounting to 3,567 youngsters, are living in poverty, the seventh highest figure among Wales’ 22 local authorities.

That figure, which Ceredigion MP Ben Lake has called “a serious concern” and “simply unacceptable” has risen by more than two per cent since last year, when 26.1 per cent of children in Ceredigion were estimated to be living in poverty.

The annual estimates, which are not an accurate count but rather an indication of where child poverty is highest, are made by the Centre for Research in Social Policy on behalf of the End Child Poverty Coalition based on HMRC and Labour Market Survey data.

Under the data, children are considered to be growing up in poverty if their household income (adjusted to account for household size), is less than 60 per cent of the average calculated after housing costs.

Mr Lake said: “Child poverty is a serious concern, and is simply unacceptable in today’s age.

“There could be no clearer signal that decisive action is needed from both Welsh and UK governments than the fact that child poverty is the single biggest threat to the wellbeing of children in Wales."

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now