Residents in Nottinghamshire's worst-hit neighbourhood for child poverty have spoken of their despair over the "desperate" cost of living crisis. Recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that almost half of children in Hyson Green are living in poverty, with 45% of kids living below the breadline.
The neighbourhood is the worst-affected area in Nottinghamshire and the study showed that 1,325 of young ones up to the age of 19 who are still living at home with parents or a carer are living in poverty in the year from March 2021. The startling figures revealed that there were 44,689 children in Nottinghamshire living in poverty even before the cost of housing was taken into account.
While these most recent figures have dipped from 48,807 in March 2020, thanks in part to financial support from the government during the start of the pandemic, the current cost of living crisis indicates that the situation is likely to get worse. Now, residents in Hyson Green have spoken out about the issue of child poverty, with some blaming the recent cost of living crisis for exacerbating the problem.
Karen Thomas, 52, said: "Sadly I'm not shocked to be honest with you. Hyson Green suffers with lots of things, and families struggle too, all the time.
"Families have always struggled here but obviously the pandemic didn't help and all that came from that. I think everyone's had difficulties since then and even though the city's opened back up in the last year there's definitely been a knock-on effect.
"It's horrible to hear about children living in poverty of course, something needs to be done, people in power need to be proactive. That's one thing that won't help families [the cost of living crisis] everything you can think of in terms of bills and day-to-day living is going up.
"It's tough for me but I'm not as bad-off as other people will be."
Callum Beardon, 56, said: "It's obviously not nice to hear about, you don't want to think about children suffering. Those numbers are really high and it sounds like it's not just a problem here but everywhere [in Nottingham].
"Of course with bills going up it's probably going to get worse before it gets better. If mums and dads drive their kids to school it's going to be difficult for them because petrol prices are frankly a joke right now, it's a joke.
"Light and energy money is all going up too, it'll become desperate for people."
The figures mean that one in six children in Nottinghamshire was living in poverty last year (16%) - and in some neighbourhoods the situation is even more stark. After Hyson Green, the second worst neighbourhood for child poverty is Bobbers Mill, where 1,038 (38%) live in poverty.
Somewhat surprisingly nine of the top 10 neighbourhoods are in Nottingham, with the tenth worst affected area being Sutton Central & Leamington - in Ashfield. Another Hyson Green resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: "It's a tough time for everyone really isn't it.
"Those numbers sound high but I wouldn't be surprised if they're even higher in other places. Everyone has to band together don't they and figure out how to fix it."
