Urgent call for action on child poverty

IT was nearly a year ago when a major report emerged which painted a stark picture of inequality for children growing up in the North of England post-pandemic compared to those in the rest of the country.

- ROB PARSONS

The massive costs to society and the UK's economy of rising inequality were outlined in The Child of the North: Building a fairer future after Covid-19 report, written by over 40 leading academics from across the North with the Northern Health Science Alliance.

Since then it's emerged that the North East is the country's child poverty hotspot, with rates at 38% and rising despite fewer children being below the poverty line nationally.

And the Levelling Up White Paper published by senior Tory Michael Gove in February attempted to set out how the country's entrenched inequalities can be tackled.