Child poverty after housing costs in the Greater West of England area, 2024/25

28 Jul 2026

This data insight explores child poverty after housing costs (AHC), revealing differences in how children experience economic hardship across regions. The AHC measure accounts for housing costs, providing a clearer indication of disposable household income and relative living standards.

The data cover the most recent period (2024/25) alongside trends from 2023/24, and include comparisons across the Greater West of England, its local authorities, constituencies, combined authority areas and the UK to provide a comprehensive regional perspective.

The Greater West of England is a bespoke geography defined here as Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon and Wiltshire.

Together, these indicators show that child poverty in the Greater West of England is not evenly distributed, with variations across different geographies.

The analysis draws on the Children in Low Income Families (CiLIF) dataset, published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and sourced via Stat-Xplore. Poverty is measured after housing costs (AHC), defined as the proportion of children aged 0-19 living in families with income below 60% of the contemporary median income. The data are based on administrative tax and benefit records and are presented as percentages of dependent children aged 0-19.

24.09%

Bristol has the highest child poverty rate in the Greater West of England

10.17 pp

Child poverty rate difference between highest and lowest local authorities in the Greater West of England

19.91%

Child poverty rate in the Greater West of England, 2024/25

29.84%

Bristol East’s child poverty rate exceeds the UK average (25.35%)

Child poverty after housing costs by local authority area in the Greater West of England, 2024/25

This visualisation shows the percentage of dependent children (aged 0-19) living below 60% of the contemporary median income after housing costs (AHC) in the UK, Greater West of England and its constituent local authority areas for 2024/25.

The UK average rate is 25.35%, compared with 19.91% in the Greater West of England. This means nationally, approximately 1 in 4 children in the UK fall below the income threshold.

Within the Greater West of England local authority areas, there is a substantial variation. Bristol records the highest rate at 24.09%, exceeding both the UK and regional averages, while Bath and North East Somerset records the lowest at 13.92%.

North Somerset (18.74%), Wiltshire (18.42%) and South Gloucestershire (16.95%) all record rates below the regional average, while Swindon (22.44%) and Gloucestershire (20.66%) are above.

Overall, the chart shows that while the Greater West of England has a lower rate of child poverty than the UK average, inequality within the region is significant, with some local authorities experiencing higher rates than others.

Trends in child poverty after housing costs (AHC) in the Greater West of England, UK

This visualisation shows child poverty rates after housing costs (AHC) for the Greater West of England and the UK for 2023/24 and 2024/25. The DWP Children in Low Income Families (CiLIF) AHC dataset at local authority level was first published for 2023/24; as further years of data are published, the series will extend.

In 2023/24, the Greater West of England recorded a child poverty rate of 20.2%, compared with 25.69% in the UK. By 2024/25, both rates had fallen: the Greater West of England recorded 19.91% and the UK recorded 25.35%.

Across both years, the Greater West of England recorded a lower child poverty rate than the UK average.

Child poverty within the Greater West of England constituencies AHC (dependent children), 2024/25

This visualisation shows child poverty after housing costs (AHC) across constituencies within the Greater West of England, 2024/25. The UK (25.35%) and Greater West of England averages (19.91%) are given for context.

Although the Greater West of England average is lower than the UK rate by about 5.4 percentage points, several constituencies exceed both benchmarks.

Bristol East records the highest rate at 29.84%, followed by Bristol South (28.85%) and Gloucester (27.35%), meaning about 1 in 3 children in each of these regions is living in poverty.

In contrast, Bath (12.03%) and North Somerset (12.41%) have the lowest rates, below the regional and national averages.

The spread between the highest and lowest areas (nearly 18 percentage points) shows that child poverty is not evenly distributed across the region.

Child poverty geographic comparisons AHC (dependent children)

This visualisation shows child poverty rates after housing costs (AHC) across combined authority areas in England, 2024/25. The UK (25.35%) and Greater West of England (19.91%) averages are given for context.

The data indicate that child poverty rates AHC vary substantially across combined authority areas, showing geographic inequality rather than a uniform national pattern.

Several combined authority areas, such as the West Midlands (37.71%), East Midlands (37.46%) and Greater Manchester (31.88%), have high rates, above both the UK and Greater West of England averages.

In contrast, areas such as Greater Lincolnshire (11.3%), York and North Yorkshire (18%) and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (22.48%) record lower rates. There is a 26.4 percentage points (pp) gap (37.71% and 11.3%) between the highest and lowest combined authority areas, highlighting marked regional inequality.

Caveats

Previous editions of this blog drew on child poverty estimates from the End Child Poverty Coalition (ECPC), based on DWP Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data (children aged 0-15 and 16-19 in full-time education), which provided a local-area time series from 2014/15.

In its Local Child Poverty Statistics 2025 report, the ECPC noted that the DWP had acknowledged the importance of providing After Housing Costs (AHC) child poverty statistics at local level and that “work is underway within the DWP to develop an AHC version of CiLIF”, with the expectation that this data would be produced directly by the DWP from 2026.

The DWP has since published this dataset: the Children in Low Income Families (CiLIF) AHC series at local authority level was first released for 2023/24. This blog now draws on the CiLIF AHC data directly, covering children aged 0-19. As a result, the trend in Visualisation 2 covers 2023/24 and 2024/25 only, and figures in this edition are not directly comparable with those in previous editions due to the change in data source and age range.