‘DEVASTATING’ new figures have revealed that more than 35 per cent of children living in Ceredigion are below the poverty line.

Data published today (Tuesday) by the End Child Poverty coalition which covers 2020 and 2021, reveals that 3,712 children in Ceredigion are living in poverty, an estimated 35.1 per cent of youngsters in the county.

Elsewhere, 6,997 children in Gwynedd are classed as living in poverty, 34.4 per cent of the population of youngsters.

6,880 children in Powys are living in poverty (33.3 per cent) with 11,247 (34.6 per cent) in Carmarthenshire and 7,430 (35.5 per cent) in Pembrokeshire.

These figures are reflected across the whole of Wales with more than one in three children living in Wales being trapped below the poverty line during the first year of the Covid pandemic.

Even when families across the UK benefited from a temporary increase to universal credit, child poverty rates in Wales remained stubbornly high.

Members of the End Child Poverty coalition in Wales - including Child Poverty Action Group, Save the Children and Children in Wales - are calling on the UK government to ensure benefits permanently keep pace with inflation, not just through the one-off measures announced by the former Chancellor in May. They are also calling on the Welsh Government to implement a new child poverty strategy and delivery plan as a matter of urgency.

The new research by Loughborough University, on behalf of the End Child Poverty coalition, shows that the headline rate of child poverty across the UK fell during 2020/21, primarily as a result of the temporary £20 a week uplift to universal credit brought in during the pandemic. However, most local authorities in Wales continued to experience high rates of child poverty. Areas that were hit by the sharpest increases in unemployment and economic inactivity at the start of the pandemic are also those areas which top the table in terms of child poverty rates, once housing costs are taken into account

The new research adjusts local area statistics from the Department for Work and Pensions to take account of different housing costs across Wales, giving a more accurate reflection of the money families have to make ends meet. The estimates show child poverty is consistently high across all local authorities in Wales, ranging from 27% in Monmouthshire to over 36% in Newport and Cardiff. More than a quarter of all children in every Welsh local authority now live below the poverty line.

With the cost of living crisis now causing further hardship, the campaigners are calling on the UK government to ensure social security is adequate in the long term, so that every family can afford the essentials.

The End Child Poverty campaigners are also urging newly elected councillors across Wales to use local powers, including over economic development, housing, and financial support, to maximise family incomes and reduce the costs parents face.

Responding to the new figures, Ellie Harwood from the Child Poverty Action Group said: “Here in Wales, we urge newly elected councillors to use every tool at their disposal to boost family incomes and reduce the costs families face. That means using local powers to deliver more cash support to families, support decent jobs - especially for women and disabled people - and improve access to high quality, free childcare. The Welsh government should also continue to invest in cash-first support for families through the Pupil Development Grant and free school meal payments.”

Referring to the work that Save the Children does with families and partners, Melanie Simmonds, Head of Save the Children Cymru added: “I’ve heard heart breaking tales of parents struggling to afford even the basics and not eating so that their children don’t go hungry. Many are juggling debts so they can cover basic living costs and that they find it difficult to get clear advice and support when in need. For many, living in constant fear of not being able to support their children affects they own mental health and ultimately seeing their parents in such stress affects children’s wellbeing too.

“This is a serious situation that needs an updated child poverty strategy and action plan with key targets and milestones to provide an urgent co-ordinated approach at local and national level allowing public and third sectors to work together. The Welsh Government needs to ensure that all their programmes of support including free school meals and the childcare offer are available to all those children in Wales who are living in poverty.”

Sean O’Neill, Policy Director at Children in Wales said: “Although the powers to tackle child poverty do not completely rest in Wales, the Welsh Government should accelerate its efforts to avoid yet more children being swept up into poverty in the months to come. This is a national crisis. Tackling the cost-of-living increases and preventing more families falling below the breadline has to be the number one priority, and a revised Child Poverty Strategy should be published without further delay.