A shocking rise in child poverty has been recorded in North East after major increases in the number of children growing up poor in parts of the region.
The new statistics released by the End Child Poverty Coalition show that the North East is the only region to see an increase in child poverty in the last year, while Newcastle and Gateshead have seen the biggest rises of any parts of the UK since 2014. Politicians and campaigners - including the Bishop of Durham - have called for action after the proportion of children in the North East growing up in poverty rose to 38%.
The figure is even higher in Newcastle, having risen from 28.4% in 2014/5 to 42.4% in the latest figures. Other areas with high rates of child poverty include Sunderland (39.7%), South Tyneside (39.1%) and Gateshead (38.6%).
