West Belfast nearly tops child-poverty list

West Belfast has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the UK, according to new research.

Some 46% of children in the parliamentary constituency live in poverty, putting it fourth in a league table of the worst areas in the UK.

Derry has also performed badly, with 36% of children in its local authority area living in poverty.

The study by the Child Poverty Action Group shows that one in five children in the UK lives in poverty.

Alison Garnham heads the campaign group and says poverty can have a devastating impact on a child's future.

"Child poverty steals away children's life chances," she said. "Children from poorer backgrounds do worse in education, have poorer health and are likely to die earlier."

The Campaign to End Child Poverty named Tower Hamlets in London as the local authority worst affected, with more than half (52%) of children there living in poverty, compared with the UK average of one in five.

London features heavily among the UK’s most deprived areas, with Islington, Hackney, Westminster and Camden all making the top 10 compilation of local authority areas enduring the biggest proportions of child poverty.