Tackling child poverty
Reducing child poverty will help people get the best start in life.
Children living in poverty
This chart shows the percentage of children living in relative income poverty in Wales. Children are considered to be in relative income poverty if they live in a household with an income below 60% of that received by a typical UK household, after housing costs such as rent or mortgage payments have been paid.
Children living in relative income poverty data explained
Description of chart: The line chart shows the percentage of children living in households that are in income poverty after housing costs has increased since the 3 years ending in 2023. However the 2 percentage point increase is within the range of typical short term variation and is not statistically significant.
Data from the period 3 years ending March 2023 onwards are not comparable with previous periods due to the introduction of integrated administrative data on benefits not used previously.
Results are shown as 3-year averages starting from 3 years ending March 2020, up to 3 years ending March 2025.
More detailed relative income poverty methodological information.
This data comes from the Department of Work and Pensions Households Below Average Income dataset which is based on results from the Family Resources Survey. They are classified as official statistics in development.
Why tackling child poverty matters
Child poverty affects children's lives now and in the future. Tackling child poverty can help more children to:
- have better physical and mental health
- attend school more regularly and get the most from their education
- have stronger literacy and numeracy skills
- have good wellbeing and feel confident
- access opportunities later in life
- get good jobs and earn a stable income as adults
Child poverty affects society more widely. It can increase pressure on health, education and other public services, and can make it harder for communities and the economy to thrive.
Reducing child poverty can improve health, education, wellbeing and future opportunities. It can help children thrive and build a stronger, fairer Wales for everyone.
What we're doing to tackle child poverty
As part of the commitment to tackle child poverty and support families across Wales, the government is urgently developing a child poverty strategy based on the best evidence of what works. The strategy will include targets and measures to help monitor progress towards outcomes and the aim of tackling child poverty.
The strategy and associated actions will aim to reduce the causes and effects of child poverty, and give every child the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Following the publication of the strategy, the measure and information presented here will be updated to reflect the actions and targets.
The Government’s commitments to piloting Cynnal (a Welsh Child Payment), expanding access to free school meals and expanding access to funded childcare will also contribute to tackling child poverty in Wales