19% of North's children living in poverty

'Government needs to continue to invest in households to reduce child poverty levels' - NI Anti Poverty Network

19% of North's children living in poverty.

Reporter:

Staff Reporter

27 Mar 2026 4:33 PM

Email:

news@derrynow.com

The British Government has produced child poverty figures (after housing costs) for every constituency and local authority.

The statistics, released on Thursday (March 26, 2026), show child poverty rates are stubbornly high with 27% in Britain experiencing poverty, and nearly 1 in 5 children living in poverty here in the North.

According to a spokesperson for the NI Anti Poverty Network (NIAPN), the experience of poverty is not even across the North.

"It is an unacceptable 14% in Lisburn and Castlereagh Council, but rises to 23% of children in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area," said the spokesperson.

"Furthermore, 1 in 4 children in Belfast West and in Newry and Armagh are living in poverty," they added.

"The official poverty statistics look different this year because the UK government has changed their methodology.

"The UK child poverty statistics for 2024/2025 are based on self-reported household incomes through the Family Resource Survey, but this year, additional administrative information on what people have received through social security will also be added.

"This change was made due to income from social security being under-reported in the past. In practice, this will mean some lower-income families will have a higher income in the data than previously reported, meaning fewer families in poverty and some families in less deep poverty.

"However, this does not mean that suddenly people have more money in their pockets. The trends in poverty have not changed," said the spokesperson.

"Government must do so much more to ensure that children are invested in. Every child deserves to grow up in a warm house, with a full belly, and access to high quality services to support them to thrive. Families should not have to depend on food banks to feed their children, use baby banks so their children have the essentials they need like clothes or nappies, or live in cold or unsafe housing," said the NIAPN spokesperson.

"As this data is produced retrospectively, the impact of the UK government’s ‘Tackling Child Poverty Strategy’ can not be seen in these figures," they added.

"Scrapping the two-child limit (due to come into effect on April 6, 2026) will see welcome reduction in child poverty. Furthermore, Stormont’s commitment to mitigating the benefit cap will further address the impacts of child poverty.

However, the child poverty rate is based upon household income and does not take into account the growing cost of living - aside from housing costs. These measurements do not reflect the reality of the high costs of energy, food, transport, childcare, schooling and leisure activities.

"Moreover, these poverty statistics do not take into account the state of our public services - the long health waiting lists, including child mental health services; the lack of affordable, good quality, accessible childcare spaces; the lack of school places for children with special educational needs; the high cost of the school day and no universal provision of free school meals for any age group across the North; the infrastructure and regional inequalities between urban and rural areas and those in the West; and the incredibly high numbers of children registered as homeless, many of whom are living in temporary housing."

Councillors pay warm tributes and emotional condolences to Amy Doherty's family and friends

'We cannot let Amy, Elizabeth, Natasha, Emma Jane, Patrycja, Katie, Susan, Karen, Ludmila, Kitty, Katrina, Caoimhe, Allison, Una, Holly, Natalie, Allesia, Chloe, Cat, Patsy, Sophie, Rachel, Mary, Karen, Mary, Sarah, Vanessa, Monserat or Ellie become statistics' - Ald Julie Middleton

Mourners at Amy Doherty’s funeral hear of her ‘magnetic personality’

Becca Bor, Development Coordinator at the NIAPN said: “Government needs to continue to invest in households to reduce child poverty levels. Thanks to relentless campaigning by the Cliff Edge Coalition, and Child poverty organisations across NI and the UK, the two-child limit is finally going to be scrapped in April. And, here in the North, the benefit cap is mitigated, further protecting our children here.

"But government must do more. This means strengthening Universal Credit to implement the ‘Essentials Guarantee’ so that at a minimum, UC reflects the cost of essentials, and providing more support to families with children, such as a child payment.

Stormont must immediately prioritise tackling Child Poverty.

"Too many children are struggling to survive, let alone thrive in our communities. The pressure on households is immense and relentless - too many parents are at breaking point. Our children's welfare is our absolute priority, they need to be nurtured, supported and loved.

"The End Child Poverty Coalition and the Northern Ireland Anti Poverty Network urges the UK government and Stormont to continue investment to reduce child poverty levels."

Table showing the rates of Child Poverty Across the eleven NI council areas:

Local authority	*Number*		*Percentage*
Local authority	2023/24	2024/25	2023/24	2024/25
Belfast	16193	14571	24.3%	22.1%
Derry City and Strabane	7628	7266	24.0%	23.0%
Newry, Mourne and Down	9552	8803	23.8%	22.2%
Causeway Coast and Glens	6293	6066	23.0%	22.5%
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon	10678	10535	22.1%	22.1%
Fermanagh and Omagh	5218	5288	21.2%	21.6%
Mid and East Antrim	5406	5157	21.0%	20.2%
Mid Ulster	7008	6954	20.1%	20.0%
Antrim and Newtownabbey	5354	5036	18.4%	17.5%
Ards and North Down	5131	4921	17.5%	16.9%
Lisburn and Castlereagh	4440	4249	14.6%	14.1%

Table showing the rates of Child Poverty Across the eighteen NI Parliamentary constituencies:

Parliamentary constituency	*Number*		*Percentage*
Parliamentary constituency	2023/24	2024/25	2023/24	2024/25
Belfast West	6526	5771	28.5%	25.4%
Belfast North	5862	5206	26.6%	23.9%
Newry and Armagh	6591	6308	25.6%	24.8%
Foyle	5139	4855	24.7%	23.4%
Upper Bann	6243	5997	23.3%	22.6%
East Londonderry	4571	4396	23.0%	22.4%
North Antrim	4580	4374	22.4%	21.7%
South Down	5120	4838	21.9%	21.0%
West Tyrone	4598	4641	21.7%	22.1%
Fermanagh and South Tyrone	5168	5172	21.0%	21.2%
Strangford	3674	3543	20.1%	19.5%
Mid Ulster	4805	4734	19.9%	19.7%
East Antrim	3273	3118	18.9%	18.2%
Belfast East	3516	3379	18.3%	17.8%
South Antrim	3779	3583	17.2%	16.6%
Belfast South and Mid Down	3075	2887	16.0%	15.1%
Lagan Valley	3667	3503	15.9%	15.2%
North Down	2700	2569	15.5%	15.0%

ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!

Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.

Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

We've got Donegal Covered...

Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie

Buy a paper

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Buy Now

Get the news

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.

Iconic Media is Ireland's largest independently owned regional newspaper and media group, with an unrivalled audience in print, online and mobile. We have 19 regional newspapers and 21 digital sites.

Iconic Digital Titles

Iconic Print Titles

Letterkenny Live

This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.

19% of North's children living in poverty

'Government needs to continue to invest in households to reduce child poverty levels' - NI Anti Poverty Network

REVEALED: The paper and data backlog holding Irish offices back

Ohk Energy brings vital renewable servicing to the Aran Islands!

All systems go as Tullamore Show set to be even bigger and better!

JOB ALERT: OUTsurance is hiring 100 new people, one year after its launch in Ireland

Standing up for Primary Education in General Election 2024

PICTURES: Feast your eyes on this near €10M villa with underground tunnels and more

PICTURES: Ireland turns green as hundreds of thousands celebrate St Patrick's Day in style

PICTURES: Conor McGregor shares intimate snaps from secret Vatican wedding to Dee Devlin

'Amazing!' Late Late Toy Show viewers donate incredible amount of money to Toy Show Appeal

Irish mansion goes back on the market - the price tag alone will make you wince

We've got Donegal Covered...

Buy a paper

Get the news