Child poverty shock
ALMOST 50% of children in Mid-Ulster are living below the poverty line according to figures released this week.
The report from the Campaign to End Child Poverty - an umbrella organisation including Barnardo's, UNICEF, Save The Children and the TUC - calculated data for each parliamentary constituency in the UK.
The figures reveal that 46% of children in Mid-Ulster live in low income families - those where no-one is working more than 16 hours a week or the family is receiving the full amount of Working Tax Credit.
A local spokesperson for Save The Children descibed the figures as 'shocking' given the stability of Northern Ireland's economy.
"We need to take action now," the spokeswoman said. "We have been running a campaign with the help of other leading child poverty organisations such as Barnado's and we took our appeal to Stormont last week and plan to hold a rally at Trafalgar Square in London this week.
"There is no excuse for so many children to be living in poverty here, we are one of the richest and most stable countries and we can do something about it.
"Statistics prove that the children born into poverty stricken homes are four times more likely to die before the age of 20. Their lives are limited and it's about time these statistics were reversed."
While it means that almost one in every two children in Mid-Ulster come from low income families, Belfast (West) has the highest percentage for Northern Ireland at 77%.
Neighbouring West Tyrone sits at 52% while Fermanagh and South Tyrone amounts to 49%.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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